'Basically had no gears': Liam Lawson blames Racing Bulls gearbox issues for dramatic flip of rival's car

Pierre Gasly was sent flipping through the air following a collision with Liam Lawson during the Miami Grand Prix.

Racing Bulls driver Lawson later said a sudden gearbox failure rendered him a passenger in the crash, stating it unexpectedly dropped into neutral and left him unable to stop.

Both drivers were forced to retire from the race, which was won by Kimi Antonelli, capping off a weekend to forget for the pair.

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The incident immediately triggered a safety car, which was simultaneously deployed to recover Isack Hadjar's stranded car after he hit the wall at the fast chicane outside Hard Rock Stadium.

"I just went into the last corner, and when I braked, I lost the gearbox and it went to neutral," Lawson explained to media post-race.

"I basically had no gears and I couldn't stop. It's not something I've had before, and it's a shame because it obviously took out Pierre as well."

The Kiwi expressed his disappointment over the sudden retirement after he had a promising start.

"First lap was really, really good, made up a lot of places and was well inside the top 10 and fighting the balance a lot at the start of the race, which is why I was actually defending so that's quite frustrating and obviously a mechanical to take us out is disappointing," Lawson said.

"Hard luck."

F1 TV commentator Jolyon Palmer noted that Lawson appeared to be fighting the car before the impact, with the Racing Bulls car seemingly cutting out mid-corner.

"He's got a problem," said Palmer.

"He's in anti-stall as it comes in (to the corner). I think he's had an issue with the power unit.

"He's got no deceleration from the engine braking, and that's why he's washed into Gasly who's not expecting it."

Gasly, whose Alpine team currently sits fifth in the constructors' standings, was more upset about the missed opportunity than the crash itself.

The French driver had picked up a single point after finishing eighth in Sunday's sprint race but will now have to look ahead to Canada in two weeks' time.

"It shouldn't have happened but I'm more disappointed not to get the points for the team on a weekend where we clearly deserved some," Gasly said.

"It wasn't pleasant inside the car and I think it could have been avoided, so it's just a bit annoying."

While the stewards did announce they would investigate the lap six collision, it was determined that no further action would be needed.

"We... accept the driver's explanation that this is a failure of a mechanical part of the car and that there was nothing that he could do to avoid the collision," the stewards wrote.

But that incident was far from the only one under review as the stewards worked through a lengthy backlog of potential infractions following the race.

Max Verstappenwas eventually handed a five-second penalty for crossing the white line at the pit exit, but kept his fifth place finish as behind him, Charles Leclerc was handed a hefty 20-second penalty.

That was due to leaving the track multiple times in the final lap without a "justifiable reason", therefore gaining an advantage. Leclerc was demoted to eighth.

Alpine's Franco Colapinto managed to keep his nose clean, securing vital points for the team with a solid eighth-place finish.

In contrast, Racing Bulls depart Miami entirely empty-handed, as Arvid Lindblad crossed the line out of the points in 14th.