Unsurprisingly, Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly see the clash which finally brought the Miami Grand Prix to life, somewhat differently.

Finally, those attracted to F1 by the thrills and spills of Netflix' version of the sport, came to see what most of the rest of us have endured for as long as anyone can remember.

Not so much the oohs and ahs of non-stop action, but that Sunday afternoon feeling that time spent in the garden might be more profitable, or walking the dog (or cat) or even watching some paint dry.

While some in the grandstands were determined to cheer anything and evreything that moved, clearly seeking to get full value for their many bucks, the rest slowly sank back in their seats as the high-speed procession continued on its merry way.

Then, totally out of the blue, a wobbly Pierre Gasly tagged Lando Norris' McLaren, resulting in a VSC then full safety car, as the inaugural Miami Grand Prix finally sprung to life.

While the rest of us should be thanking the pair for their endeavours in saving the race, neither driver was feeling particularly charitable about the other.

"It's a shame," sighed Norris. "It just ended in a silly way.

"Someone just said he was on the radio saying he was going to retire or something," the Briton continued, "if that is the case, then I think what he did was silly.

"If you're going to retire, you just get out the way of people racing," he added. "He was looking in his right mirror, he was drifting across the track.

"Of course you could say maybe I could have left a bit more room," he admitted, "but I don't expect him to just try and stay in the middle.

"It's a shame, we maybe could have scored an eighth place, ninth place, which is a couple of points, better than none. It would have been nice but it didn't end that way. It's frustrating but not the end of the world."

Asked if he would be talking to Gasly about the clash, he replied: "Of course, just to understand the outcome.

"Maybe some people would blame me, some people would blame him. I think the main thing is, if he was racing and still going for position, I would say it's more of a racing incident kind of thing, and I could have left a bit more, he could have left a bit more. But I think if he was going to retire, it was just a bit of a silly incident from his part and he should have just got out the way a bit more."

"Let's start with the beginning," insisted Gasly. "Fernando crashed into us into Turn 1, I think a lap before, and basically broke the right-rear. So we tried to go for one more lap to see if we could continue and make it to the end of the race, but the car was too damaged, I could not stay on track as we saw through the first sector.

"Then on the way back to the pits, we had contact with Norris," he continued. "I was trying to turn right, and tried to let the guys past and Lando came and unfortunately we had contact.

"I must say I'm extremely disappointed," admitted the Frenchman, "because it was a great start, it was a great afternoon. We passed Lewis at the start, we were looking for around P8 at the chequered flag, and it would have been a nice battle with Fernando.

"I don't really know what happened, I haven't seen the footage, but he hit us quite hard at the back and that was enough to break the car. So a lot of positives, but extremely disappointed not to have finished the race."

Check out our Sunday gallery from Miami, here.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by meatball, 10/05/2022 16:01

"pretty mature response from both drivers. It really was "just one of those things". but hey... it made the race more entertaining. "

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2. Posted by Mad Matt, 10/05/2022 9:36

"Thanks @kenji, I hadn't taken the time to re-watch, it wasn't the most interesting GP from my POV. I initially thought the track bent slightly and Lando was just following that.... a shame for both of them."

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3. Posted by kenji, 10/05/2022 0:14

"OOOPs... should read ' kept more to the LEFT' ....what a mistaka to maka [apologies to Capt Alberton Grigorelli] "

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4. Posted by kenji, 09/05/2022 23:48

"After viewing the incident quite a few times I feel that the decision to deem it a racing incident was correct but if there is any blame attached then Norris must cop his share. If you watch carefully you'll see that Gasly was turning the wheel quite hard right when Norris hit him. Norris should've kept more to the right. "

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5. Posted by Mad Matt, 09/05/2022 20:04

"Seemed to me that Pierre was too busy on the radio.... but fair enough, nice to see they're not both laying into each other. Let's hope they both have a better race next time out."

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6. Posted by Defiant, 09/05/2022 17:12

"I think in hindsight and video review they'll both feel pangs of regret as it could've been easily avoided by both of them. Shame, but that's racing I guess. "

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It was just a bit of a silly incident from his part...

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