Lawson Attributes Gasly Crash to Gearbox Failure

Liam Lawson attributed a dramatic collision with Pierre Gasly to a gearbox failure during the early laps of Sunday's Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix, an incident that flipped the Alpine driver's car and forced both to retire.

The crash occurred on lap five at Turn 17 of the 57-lap race at the Miami International Autodrome. Lawson, driving for Racing Bulls, was battling Gasly when he braked for the hairpin. "I went to brake for the last corner, and when I hit the brakes, we had a gearbox failure," Lawson told reporters afterward. "And I went straight to neutral, and I couldn't downshift to slow the car down." The sudden loss of gears left him without engine braking, causing his car to clip the rear of Gasly's Alpine. Gasly's machine rotated, flipped through the air and came to rest partially suspended on the tyre barrier.

Gasly emerged unhurt but described the moment as frightening. "It was very, I must say, quite scary because I was up in the air without control," he said. "I didn't know where I was going to land." The Frenchman had started strongly, briefly reaching sixth or seventh place before braking to avoid Max Verstappen's spin on the opening lap, which dropped him several...