McLaren’s Lando Norris believes that his race-ending collision with AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly was simply down to a “racing incident” at 2022 Miami Grand Prix.
Having endured a tough weekend at the Miami International Autodrome where he only qualified eighth on the grid, Norris’ race unravelled after a botched pit stop on Lap 19 as he re-joined in a DRS train headed by Haas’ Kevin Magnussen which included Mick Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel.
Up ahead, Gasly collided with Alpine’s Fernando Alonso on Lap 39 but proceeded to make a huge mistake as he ran wide two laps later through Turns Seven and Eight, which left him slow and off the racing line as he re-joined the circuit.
It was at that moment that Norris came across the Frenchman and as he went to make the overtake on Gasly’s left, the pair banged wheels which sent Norris spinning as his right rear tyre came loose from his McLaren without causing further incidents up ahead.
Reflecting on the incident post race to mclaren.com, Norris said: “I think the collision with Pierre was a bit of a racing incident. I guess I maybe could have left a bit more space, but so could he and we just ended up coming together.
“We luckily didn’t end up losing out too much. Maybe one or two points, but one or two points is always a nice thing to have.
“So a bit of a shame but it happens and we’ll make sure we bounce back and do better next time.”
Daniel Ricciardo meanwhile ran long on the medium tyres in his opening stint after having qualified 14th on the grid, yet felt that he “just struggled,” for pace when he switched to the hard tyre for his second stint so he opted for soft tyres when the Safety Car was deployed after Norris’ incident.
The Aussie though had to eventually settle for 13th following a five-second time penalty post-race for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, although he felt like he was “defending more than attacking.”
Looking back on the inaugural Miami GP weekend as a whole, Ricciardo commented: “I think this circuit certainly played to a few of our weaknesses. Lots of long corners, lots of long straights, so we’ve got to work on that, and then hopefully Barcelona will suit us a bit more, so I’m looking forward to that.”
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