Pierre Gasly health update as driver flips over in scary Miami crash | F1 | Sport

The safety car was required after Liam Lawson locked up and went into the side of Gasly. The former Red Bull star then saw his car flip over in a ‘scary accident’.

Gasly confirmed he was ‘ok’ as he exited the race. The 30-year-old had attempted to overtake Lawson by making a move on the outside before the New Zealander’s error.

Lawson and Nico Hulkenberg were soon told to retire their vehicles by Racing Bulls and Audi respectively following a dramatic start to the race in the United States. As a result of his early finish, Lawson could yet find himself facing a penalty for the crash when Formula 1 goes to Canada next time out.

Viewers were just thankful that both drivers emerged unscathed and also praised F1’s halo safety feature. “Thank god both Gasly and Lawson walked away okay,” one social media user said.

“Oh boy that wasss crazy scary,” added another. “Seeing Gasly’s Alpine get airborne like that was terrifying.”

“This is why the halo was made,” commented one fan. “God bless halo,” said a further view.

Moments before, Isack Hadjar also exited the race. The 21-year-old appeared to clip the wall as he turned into a chicane and lost control, sending him into the outside barrier and out of the race.

While the safety car was called following Gasly’s crash, Hadjar could be seen berating himself and thumping his steering wheel in anger. It marked a nightmare weekend for the racer who had been required to start from the pit lane following power unit changes after his qualifying disqualification.

“We made a mistake and we respect the decision of the stewards,” Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies said. “No performance advantage was intended nor gained from this error.

“We will learn from this incident and assess our processes to understand how it occurred and to take steps to ensure it cannot happen again. As a team, we apologise to Isack, and to our fans and partners.

“We learn the hard way today, but we will move forward. Now our focus is on converting yesterday’s encouraging showing into a strong race performance this afternoon.”