Scott McLaughlin and fellow IndyCar driver Devlin DeFrancesco have been involved in a verbal altercation after colliding at The Thermal Club in California.
New Zealander McLaughlin and the Canadian spun out before the race had even started with DeFrancesco hitting the Kiwi during the formation lap this morning.
DeFrancesco received a drive-through penalty for the incident.
"Everything's fine, he just drove into my door," McLaughlin told his Team Penske crew on his car radio.
McLaughlin’s hybrid system then overheated in a motor generator unit failure which forced him to retire his Dallara-Chevrolet car on lap 53.
DeFrancesco finished 20th and then confronted McLaughlin after the race.
"We're supposed to be side-by-side, you f***ing moron," DeFrancesco said.
"What are you doing? We're supposed to be side-by-side. You turned in at me. You closed the f***ing door."
McLaughlin begged to differ as he pointed his finger in DeFrancesco's face.
"You drove into me. You got a drive-through for a reason, Dev," he said.
Reigning series champion Alex Palou of Spain won the race to make it two-from-two in 2025.
McLaughlin is 10th in the standings and Penske teammate Will Power of Australia is 14th.
"Not the day we wanted," McLaughlin said.
"Tough weekend all around, really, but I was very confident going into today that we would have good race pace.”
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