‘It sucks for both of us’ – Gasly and Lawson explain their Miami Grand Prix collision

Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson have shared their thoughts on the unfortunate collision between the pair in the early stages of the Miami Grand Prix, which caused Gasly to be flipped upside down in his Alpine and forced both drivers into a retirement.

The pair were on course to contend for points in the 57-lap race after starting from P9 and P11, with the Frenchman holding the advantage on the grid. After losing a few places amid the mayhem of the opening lap, Gasly then set his sights on the Racing Bulls driver up ahead.

Heading down to Turn 17, he took the outside line in a bid to pass Lawson before the pair made contact, with the Racing Bulls machine touching the rear left side of the Alpine. The contact spun Gasly into the air before he crashed into the wall, thankfully emerging uninjured.

His car had to be recovered during a Safety Car period as Lawson similarly retired with damage, with the Kiwi driver later revealing that the incident was the result of a gearbox failure which he had no control over.

Asked about his view on the crash, Gasly said: “It shouldn’t have happened but I’m more disappointed not to get the points for the team on a weekend where we clearly deserved some. It wasn’t pleasant inside the car and I think it could have been avoided, so it’s just a bit annoying.”

While the Frenchman’s team mate Franco Colapinto was able to secure some useful points for Alpine in P8, Racing Bulls ended the weekend empty-handed as Arvid Lindblad crossed the line in P14.

After a strong start to the season, the combination of a non-scoring weekend in Miami and concerns around the mechanical problem that led to Lawson’s crash dealt a blow to the team’s positive trajectory..

“It sucks for both of us obviously,” Lawson explained. “I just went into the last corner and when I braked, I lost the gearbox and went into neutral. I basically had no gears and I couldn’t stop. It’s not something I’ve had before.

“Obviously it’s quite a big issue for us and it’s what meant we had to retire the car. It’s a shame because it’s obviously taken Pierre out as well. We haven’t really been quick enough this weekend. We had a good start, the first lap was really good – I made up a lot of places and was well inside the top 10.

“I was finding the balance a lot at the start of the race which is why I was actually defending. That's quite frustrating, and then obviously a mechanical [issue] to take us out is disappointing.”