WATCH: Former Haas F1 reserve driver Santino Ferrucci suffers horrifying crash at IndyCar Toronto
Former Haas F1 reserve driver Santino Ferrucci was involved in a horrifying crash at the IndyCar Toronto street race on Sunday, July 21. The No.14 Chevrolet driver had an eventful afternoon in the Canadian megacity as he suffered damage to his car on Lap 1 after he sustained wing damage to his A.J. Foyt racing car.
The American was announced as the reserve and test driver for the Haas F1 team for the 2016 season alongside Charles Leclerc. He continued in this role with the team for the following two seasons, after Leclerc went on to race in the GP2 series and F1 with Sauber subsequently. Ferruci joined the IndyCar series in 2018 after substituting for Pietro Fittipaldi at the Detroit Grand Prix for Dale Coyne Racing.
In Toronto this Sunday, he was part of a six-car crash that led to a suspension of the race. McLaren academy driver Pato O'Ward lost control and went into the wall, resulting in chaos as a sequence of cars tried to avoid the Mexican's car, some crashing into him.
In a video circulating on social media, Santino Ferrucci can be seen going airborne into the fence after he collided with O'Ward's static car.
However, the former Haas test driver came out unscathed from the incident and when quizzed about the lack of yellow flags immediately following O'Ward's incident, told The Racer:
"First off, I'm very, very thankful to the IndyCar medical team. You know, cars are so safe to have a scary accident like that, just to walk away fine. I never saw Pato. When I came through there, I never saw Pietro clip him and nothing from the spotters."
"There was no yellow, no nothing, so I didn't know to check up. Just super unfortunate. I was trying to take care of equipment, trying to have a recovery day... and just a bummer."
Pato O'Ward gives his take on his crash involving the former Haas F1 reserve driver
McLaren Academy driver and IndyCar star Pato O'Ward stated that he had rear locking on his tires before losing control and heading into the wall in Toronto.
As per Motorsport.com, the Mexican IndyCar driver explained his crash and said:
“I had rear locking. It spun and that's pretty much the end of that. I am so surprised IndyCar didn’t call a yellow. Like you're just calling for a massive shunt."
"They had a solid five seconds to call yellow and tell everybody that was coming. But I'm glad everybody else that was in it is fine," he added.
While O'Ward was unable to make an impression in the race, it was another McLan-backed driver, Colton Herta, who won the race in Toronto.