The Alpine car of Pierre Gasly flips following a collision with Liam Lawson’s Racing Bulls car (R) at the Miami Grand Prix.
Photo: AFP
Liam Lawson has completed a forgettable weekend at Formula One’s Miami Grand Prix, crashing out early in the main race in a spectacular collision.
Lawson locked brakes entering a corner on the eighth lap and the chassis of his Racing Bulls car lifted the Alpine car of French rival into the air, flipping it 360 degrees.
Both drivers were uninjured but were forced to retire with car damage.
Lawson later explained he suffered a sudden gearbox failure and that he’d apologised to Gasly for the incident.
“It’s destroying something, I can hear it,” Lawson told Racing Bulls engineers over their team communications ahead of the incident.
“It’s really bad in the gearbox. If I let go of the clutch, it’s making terrible noises. It’s gone, it’s gone.”
Over goes Gasly’s Alpine!
Both Pierre and Liam Lawson were OK after this collision in Miami #F1 #MiamiGP pic.twitter.com/8b4bfSaJLU
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 3, 2026
Race commentators suggested Lawson may yet pay a penalty for being the apparent cause of the incident – potentially by being handed a grid penalty for the next race – the Canadian Grand Prix on Montreal in three weeks.
It was the second straight year Lawson has failed to finish in Miami, having exited in the opening lap last year.
Lawson had started 11th on the grid and made some early gains but he suggested his car was struggling with technical problems.
That continued a weekend of batting with his car, having struggled to make an impact in practice and qualifying, while finishing 15th in the sprint race on Sunday morning.
Lawson remains 10th overall on the standings after four rounds, having picked up points with top-10 finishes in the two previous rounds in China and Japan.
– Reuters