Ollie Bearman limped away from a serious 140mph accident at the Japanese Grand Prix – suffering a knee injury.
The incident occurred after the British driver hurtled towards Spoon Curve like a 10-pin bowling ball.
He was closing on Alpine’s Franco Colapinto at a great rate with a huge difference in pace between the two cars.
He shimmied to the left – a banzai move – and ran on to the grass.
He then banged through at least two polystyrene distance marker boards, spun right around, and bashed sideways into the outside of the Spoon barrier, a 50G impact that sent up a spray of gravel.
Bearman, 20, managed to climb out of the car unaided but could only hop on his left leg as marshals helped him away. Unable to put weight on his right leg, he collapsed to the floor.
Ollie Bearman limped away from a serious 140mph accident at the Japanese Grand Prix
The medical car whisked him away for an x-ray at the track.
His Haas team confirmed the Essex-born star, a Ferrari academy protégé, was ‘alert and communicating.’
‘There was no fracture but he suffered a right-knee contusion,’ added the spokesman of the swelling.
In a statement on X they added: ‘Ollie has reported to be OK and sustained no fractures from his earlier crash.’
The accident occurred on lap 22 and brought out a safety car that allowed Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli to pit and rejoin in the lead to put him in charge of the race.
Speaking on Sky Sports during the broadcast, Haas team boss Aayo said: ‘He just had a huge closing speed against Colapinto so he had to take avoiding action and he went on the grass and crashed, so yeah, scary.’
When asked if Colapinto had moved late as Bearman approached, he said: ‘No, the main thing is just the closing speed I think, which was huge.’
