Marcus Ericsson and Linus Lundqvist in big crashes in Indy 500 Practice 4

Marcus Ericsson and Linus Lundqvist were involved in the first big smashes of Indy 500 practice.

Both drivers wrecked their cars during Thursday’s Practice 4 session.

• IndyCar results: 2024 Indianapolis 500 - Practice 4

Andretti Global driver Ericsson - the 2022 winner of the famous race - crashed at Turn 4 then slid down the straight.

He experienced three big impacts but was able to clamber out of the car.

Ericsson was cleared of any injuries after being checked by the medical team.

"I'm feeling okay. Obviously it was quite a decent hit," Ericsson said.

"The safety in these cars is pretty impressive. I need to watch it back.

“Obviously, lost it in the middle there. I don't know if I brushed the kerb a little bit.

“Yeah, I think I brushed the kerb a little bit and that's probably enough to send it.

"Then you're a passenger. Very disappointing.

“I'm very sorry to my team. They've done a very good job with and they have a lot of work ahead of them now, so that's probably the worst part of the whole thing."

Chip Ganassi Racing driver Lundqvist was also cleared of injury after his crash at Turn 2.

“I’m alright,” said Lundqvist. “Just want to apologise to the team. Obviously not what we’re looking to do. It’s a shame.

“I know that the guys worked so hard to put this car together. It sucks.

“It’s my mistake. I know exactly what I did. I touched the kerb in Turn 2 and couldn’t hold onto it.

“It’s something that you talk about often at this place, but it’s just a mistake on my part and the team’s going to pay the price for it.

“It goes so fast, and when you get down there and you realise where you’re at, it’s kind of too late.

“It’s a small mistake. Easy thing to happen, but big consequences.

“I know we’re going to bounce back from something like this.

“Doesn’t mean that it doesn’t suck in the moment. Obviously it hurts and especially when it’s your mistake.

“But we’ll rebound, I’ll learn from it. There’s another week or so until the race so we’ll bounce back for that.”