After a wild first lap that saw Charles Leclerc take the lead from third and Max Verstappen spin and fall down the grid at the start of the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday, the race had just started to find it’s pace when Pierre Gasly flipped in the apex of the turn 17 hairpin.
Gasly and Liam Lawson had a collision as Gasly went to pass, going into the turn 17 hairpin. Lawson seemed unable to slow down into the hairpin and moved into Gasly’s outside lane. The hit caused Gasly’s Alpine to complete a full rotation, with it briefly sitting on the halo. The two were battling for 10th position.
The flip ended Gasly’s race, as the driver safely exited and walked away. Lawson was able to drive back to the pits, but his day is also over.
On the same lap, Isack Hadjar crashed into the wall in turn 14, ending his race. Hadjar had made it up to battle. Arvid Linbald claimed 15th after starting on the pit lane. Hadjar clipped the apex, sending him into the wall solo.
The three drivers are joined by Niko Hulkenberg, who retired from the race after already coming into the pits for repairs on the opening lap.
Moments before the safety car was deployed, Lando Norris made it by Kimi Antonelli for second position.
Verstappen was the only driver to take the opportunity of the safety car to pit, coming in on lap eight before the restart on lap 12.
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Victoria Beaver is a nomadic sports writer who spends her time hopping between race tracks and hippie farms. She’s covered every corner of motorsports that will let her in from 410 Sprints to NASCAR to Supercross. Her daily driver is a 2010 Subaru that she refused to do the smallest amount of preventative maintenance on. Instead, she spends her free time and money building a 42-foot Skoolie to one day travel the country full time.