With front-row starter Kakunoshin Ota stalling on the grid, Lawson got on the aggressive and tried to pass polesitter Tomoki Nojiri for the lead of the race.
The two Mugen drivers ran side-by-side into Turn 2, with Lawson running wide and over the kerbs at the exit of the corner.
This sent the Kiwi spinning back on track, where he collected the cars of Tadasuke Makino and Yuhi Sekiguchi - both being sent airbone in the contact. Nobuharu Matsushita also got caught up in the melee after going wide over the track in a bid to avoid the incident.
The red flag was almost immediately deployed, with images showing Sekiguchi’s car landing upside down in the run-off area at the opposite side of the track.
Lawson was able to get his hobbled car back in the garage, but was heard furiously complaining about his team-mate Nojiri on the radio, claiming he pushed him off the track.
No action was taken against Nojiri, with the stewards clearing the two-time champion of any wrongdoing.
Cars go airborne at Motegi! 😱 Drivers are OK!
— Motorsport.tv (@MotorsportTV_UK) August 20, 2023
📺 Watch the race restart live on https://t.co/SzQiOomZen at https://t.co/QUWTg9WKYs#SUPERFORMULA #SFormula #Motorsport #SFjp #trd #HRC #HONDA #TOYOTA pic.twitter.com/oG2p4nX43o
It remains unclear if Lawson will be able to rejoin the race, with his car having suffered extensive damage in the incident.
Lawson arrived in the seventh race of the season level on points with TOM’S rival Ritomo Miyata, who qualified eighth for the race.
The race is due to restart at 3:50pm local time.
