IndyCar’s season opening race was red flagged after a horror smash on the opening lap. Former Formula 3 driver Devlin DeFrancesco was sent airborne in the smash after a side impact from Benjamin Pedersen.
The Firestone GP at St. Petersburg was immediately suspended while the incident was cleared away. DeFrancesco was sent to the circuit’s medical centre for checks but has since been cleared of any injury by doctors.
DeFrancesco was left stranded in the middle of the track after dodging a multi-car crash at turn three. The incident began after Scott Dixon collided with Felix Rosenqvist.
Simon Pagenaud then hit the wall and was collided by DeFrancesco. Pedersen was then unable to avoid the Andretti Steinbrenner driver who struck at high speeds.
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Andretti confirmed DeFrancesco was alright in a social media update after the accident. They said: “DeFrancesco has been seen by the @IndyCar medical team and released. We are so glad to see that all drivers are OK after that first lap incident.”
However, DeFrancesco appeared to point the finger at race officials for not taking safety seriously after drivers had raised concerns. He told NBC Sports: “I’m fine. Not the way you want to start the season. We had concerns about turn three and made IndyCar very aware of it.
“There have been multiple incidents there all weekend because it’s slippery. And that was the scenario that happened to me. I saw Helio (Castroneves) spinning in front of me and then I saw the No. 55 coming and I knew it was going to be a big one and braced up and got ready for it. It was a wild ride.”
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Former Haas F1 test driver Santino Ferrucci was also involved in the dramatic shunt. IndyCar icons Helio Castroneves and Pagenaud were also ruled out of the race after the lap one melee.
The race was eventually restarted with ex-Haas F1 star Romain Grosjean eyeing an opening race victory after taking pole on Saturday.
Dixon added: “I feel really sad we made contact there. Honestly, I thought I was clear, but there was a small rub. I feel really bad for Felix.”
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