Liam Lawson has avoided a penalty for clashing with Pierre Gasly during the Miami Grand Prix because his Racing Bulls suffered a gearbox failure moments before the crash.
On lap five Gasly went to overtake Lawson into the Turn 17 hairpin and was hit by the Racing Bulls driver, sending the Alpine into a flip and landing partly on the barriers. Both drivers were OK but retired from the race due to the incident, with the FIA stewards opting to review the incident after the race.
In the investigation it was confirmed that Lawson had suffered a gearbox failure under braking for Turn 17 which prevented him from avoiding contact with Gasly. Therefore the stewards deemed the cause a “mechanical failure” which is not reason to penalise the New Zealander.
The FIA stewards document stated: “The driver of Car 30 explained that just before the collision, he had a technical issue as his gearbox failed under braking. The Stewards reviewed the in-car data and telemetry and confirmed that there was clearly a gearbox failure just before the incident in question. The radio communications were also consistent with the fact that there was a gearbox failure.
“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. We also considered whether the driver of Car 30 had the ability to anticipate the failure of the gearbox and decided that it would not have been possible for him to do so.
Pierre Gasly, Alpine
Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images
“Under the circumstances, the stewards determine that a mechanical failure, not driver error, was the cause of the collision and therefore the driver of Car 30, was not at fault for the collision. We therefore took no further action.”
Lawson said the failure wasn’t an issue he had experienced before with his Racing Bulls F1 car and that the crash with Gasly was unavoidable.
“It sucks for both of us obviously,” he said. “I just went into the last corner and when I braked lost the gearbox and I went to neutral so I basically had no gears and I couldn’t stop so 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 but it’s a shame because it’s taken out Pierre as well.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
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