bollard

The safety car in Miami was caused by Max Verstappen dislodging a bollard as he began to struggle with his car.

"What's intriguing about the entry is that a canon appears to be set as a bollard in the ground," Dr Thorpe told BBC News NI.

Sai Varshith Kandula, 20, drove a U-Haul truck onto a sidewalk, sending pedestrians running for safety, before ramming it into metal bollard barriers near White House grounds.

He ran long, and an opportunely timed safety car vaulted him into the lead, and he had more than enough pace at the restart to pull away from Verstappen, albeit that Red Bull said the car had been damaged when the Dutchman hit a bollard just before his pit stop.

The fact that this was not the usual cruise to victory for Verstappen was obvious when he missed the chicane on lap 21 and displaced a bollard.