McLaren reiterate demand for rule changes after scary F1 near-miss

McLaren boss Andrea Stella believes F1 and the FIA have a "responsibility" to put measures in place to prevent an accident like Oliver Bearman's from happening again. 

Throughout pre-season testing, Stella was particularly vocal in his warnings to F1 and the FIA over the danger of closing speeds catching drivers out as one harvested energy whilst another deployed.

In round three of the season, that scenario played out when Oliver Bearman was caught out behind the recharging Alpine of Franco Colapinto, spinning at high speed before slamming into the barriers at 50G.

The closing speed between the two cars was around 30mph, with Bearman only suffering bruising and avoiding serious injury.

Reflecting on the incident and his warnings in pre-season, Stella now feels there is a "responsibility" to ensure changes are made to the rules through the April break to ensure a similar event can never happen again.

"When it comes to the incident that involved Oliver, I think in this situation, when you know that the closing speed can be as big as it can when a car is lifting or being in a super clip, and the other car is deploying, then it is not a surprise," Stella told media, including RacingNews365.

"We already said in testing that it [should be] on the agenda of the FIA in terms of the aspects of the 2026 regulations that should be improved.

"We don't want to wait for things to happen to put actions in place, and [in the Japanese GP], something happened.

"Oliver got out of it with just some bruises, but nothing too major. 

"We have a responsibility to put in place the actions from a safety point of view that need and should be implemented."