pierre gasly climbs out of stricken alpine (1)Liam Lawson has apologised to Pierre Gasly after a sudden gearbox failure sent him crashing into the Alpine, flipping it into the barrier at the Miami Grand Prix. Gasly was able to extract himself from his car, which was partially on its side as it rested against the barrier, and walked away from the crash without any injuries. Liam Lawson details gearbox failure in Pierre Gasly Miami crash Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust Gasly was chasing Lawson at the Miami Grand Prix, with the two heading into Turn 17. Lawson was on the inside with the fast-approaching Gasly taking the outside line and giving his rival more than enough room. But instead of turning in sharply for the corner, Lawson drifted wide and collected Gasly. The impact flipped the Alpine over before the car came to a rest partially on its side against the barrier. Lawson would retire two laps after Gasly. “I went and saw him to apologise,” Lawson told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets in Miami. “Obviously they’ve had a great weekend. I just wanted to explain to him that I wasn’t intentionally trying to push the braking like that, I just had no gearbox and no brakes.” “I went to brake for the last corner,” he explained, “and when I hit the brakes, we had a gearbox failure, and it went straight to neutral, and I couldn’t downshift and slow the car down. “It’s a shame. It’s obviously taken out Pierre, which is not good. They were having a great weekend, and it’s retired us as well.” Asked if he had any warning about the gearbox issue, the New Zealander replied: “It just failed in that moment.” More from the Miami Grand Prix on PlanetF1.com Lawson was investigated by the stewards, but he was cleared as his in-car data and telemetry “confirmed that there was clearly a gearbox failure just before the incident in question. “We therefore accept the driver’s explanation that this was a failure of a mechanical part in the car and that there was nothing that he could do to avoid the collision,” continued the stewards’ verdict. As for Gasly, he told PlanetF1.com that it “could have been avoided” as Lawson was “too optimistic.” He was speaking before the gearbox explanation was confirmed. “I was luckily fine,” he added. “I must say quite scared because I was in the air without any control and I think I came in the wall rear end first so I didn’t even know where I was going to land. It wasn’t pleasant.” “Right now,” he added, “I’m just more disappointed than anything else for the team because it’s a big missed opportunity.” Additional reporting by Thomas Maher Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists. You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!
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