Dixon spun his Chip Ganassi Racing car on the exit of Canada Corner and let Andretti Autosport’s Romain Grosjean past him as he got back up to racing speed. But Dixon then suddenly swerved left into the path of Team Penske’s Will Power, who was on a hot lap.
The pair collided, smashing the left-front wheel of Dixon’s car before they both slammed into the concrete wall.
Power, whose car suffered huge damage to three corners, immediately radioed: “What the ****? What the ****?”
Power then got out of his car and shoved an apologetic Dixon in the shoulder as he remonstrated with his fellow Antipodean.
“Scott just moved abruptly and I was comin’ and it’s a very unfortunate incident,” Power told NBC Peacock. “Nothing I could really do there.
“I didn’t expect him to move. Such a pity, I felt like we had a pretty good car. We’ll rebuild it and see what happens there.”
The pair then discussed the incident in the medical car on the way back to the infield care centre, where they were given a clean bill of health.
Asked about their discussion, Power replied: “I just said I didn’t expect such an abrupt move and not a good situation, but these things happen.”
Dixon was apologetic over the incident, but both crews are facing a race against time to prepare their cars in time for qualifying.
“We were only really old tires, maybe 20 laps on them, just trying to get some balance checks,” he related. “I kinda spun going into [Turn] 12 there, and then I saw Grosjean out of my mirror after I recovered, and I didn’t realize Power was even there.
“Really sorry for him and obviously his team, just a mistake on my behalf and feel frustrated for wrecking my car and his car as well.”
When he was shown a replay of the post-clash confrontation, Dixon added: “We ended up getting in the medical car together, he was fine after that. Everybody gets pretty fired up and especially with how tight it is at the moment.
“It is what it is, but I just feel bad for the situation.”