Liam Lawson’s "best race" ruined by pit mistake in Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

By Alex Powell 

Kiwi Formula One driver Liam Lawson is lamenting a pit crew mistake that put him out of contention for points at the season finale Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, ruining what he dubbed one of the best races he’s driven.

Lawson, racing in the last event of his six-race contract, had to re-enter the pits a second time and was slapped with a 10-second time penalty after his front left wheel was not attached properly by his Racing Bulls crew.

At the time, he was running eighth. However, once all penalties were served, the Kiwi couldn’t advance up the grid, and eventually saw his engine give out on the final lap for his first ‘Did Not Finish’ in motorsport’s pinnacle.

“A tough way to end the season, which is a shame because we started really well. It was probably one of the best races I’ve driven, even though we were a couple of laps down, the pace was actually really strong, we were fast,” Lawson said.

“But we had an issue in the pits, which put us out of the race, which sucks because we could have potentially had a chance to score some points today. After that I just tried to treat it like a normal race, so I could show what I could do.

“To everybody supporting the team and myself, a massive thank you, I’ve loved my six races so far in the car. Obviously I’m hoping to have a future in Formula One, I gave it everything and I’m looking forward to hopefully being back next year.”

Lawson’s future in F1 is expected to be cleared up later this week, whether he will remain with Racing Bulls or make the step up to the Red Bull team and join Formula One champion Max Verstappen.

Racing Bulls chief technical officer Tim Goss said Lawson had a much better start to the race than teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who triggered an anti-stall.

“Liam’s start and first lap went well by contrast, and from running in 10th place early on we felt we had a good chance against some of our rivals ahead.

“However, Liam’s pit stop didn’t go to plan with the front left wheel only partially in place before being tightened. The resulting refitting of the wheel and penalty meant there was little chance of competing. Ultimately, a brake issue meant we had to retire the car. We will come back stronger next season,” Goss added.

At the front, Lando Norris’ fourth win of the season was enough for McLaren to end a wait for the constructors championship that dates to 1998, after doing enough to hold off Ferrari’s challenge.

To rub salt into Ferrari’s wounds, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc completed the podium in second and third respectively, but still finished adrift of first place, as McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took 10th.

No team had ever lost the constructors championship when leading into the final weekend, and McLaren (666 points) continued that record as Ferrari (652) fell short by 14 points.

Leclerc’s effort in particular was phenomenal, and earned driver of the day after starting 19th on the grid thanks to an engine penalty.

Lewis Hamilton missed the podium with fourth place, in his final race for Mercedes before he joins Ferrari in 2025.

As Formula One waits to see what Red Bull does with its driver line-up across two teams for 2025, Lawson at the very least finished above stablemate Sergio Perez.

However, teammate Tsunoda taking 13th place will leave the Kiwi looking over his shoulder at just who wins a place next to Verstappen, who finished eighth, next year.

Starting 12th, Lawson managed to climb two places to 10th, at the same time as both of his senior Red Bull stablemates - Verstappen and Perez - were hit.

Verstappen made contact with Piastri with both drivers receiving 10-second time penalties, while Perez’s race was ended by an incident with Valtteri Bottas before the end of the opening lap to trigger a virtual safety car.

Following reports Red Bull will part ways with him at the end of the season, Perez’s retirement made it two in two grands prix, after also failing to finish in Qatar last week.

At the same time, Tsunoda had dropped from 11th to 16th, as the two Racing Bulls’ drivers battle to impress their Red Bull bosses in the last race of 2024.

Once green flags returned on lap three, and the Drag Reduction System (DRS) with it, Lawson was overtaken by Verstappen to drop out of the points, and had Hamilton hot on his heels.

As Verstappen continued to make his way up the field, Lawson pushed to overtake Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, even as he and Hamilton traded places at the start of lap 12, courtesy of the Kiwi masterfully overtaking with the aid of DRS.

However, after 10 laps trying to keep the seven-time world champion at bay, Lawson couldn’t contain Hamilton any longer.

First pit stops to both Aston Martin and Haas cars, though, saw Lawson up to eighth, and back into a share of the points. Another stop to Alpine’s Pierre Gasly moved Lawson to seventh, with Tsunoda close to five seconds behind him in eighth.

Despite their rivals for sixth in the constructors championship both opting for two-stop strategies, Racing Bulls kept both Lawson and Tsunoda to one-stop. But even as the pair lost time to cars in front, Lawson was able to continue to increase the distance between himself and his teammate.

On older tyres, Lawson was no match for Gasly and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc behind him, and saw Tsunoda pitted before him on lap 23, to risk being undercut by his teammate.

One lap later, disaster struck for Lawson, when an error in the pits saw his front left tyre not attached correctly, and forced the Kiwi into a second stop, and handed him a penalty on his team’s behalf.

“The wheels aren’t on, mate,” Lawson was heard on the team radio.

Lawson finally served his penalty on lap 31, and emerged from the pits more than 46 seconds behind Bottas in 17th.

But a collision between Bottas and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen ended the former’s race - and potentially Formula One career - to move Lawson up a place.

Magnussen was able to continue, but opted for soft tyres in an attempt to take the fastest lap on his farewell, and was able to build a healthy lead over Lawson at the back of the grid.

Those soft tyres degraded enough for Lawson to get around Magnussen on the 57th lap. But to add insult to injury, Lawson’s engine gave out at the start of the final lap, and meant he was forced to retire from the race altogether.

Regardless, Lawson still ends the season with four championship points, courtesy of finishing ninth in both Austin and Brazil. Those finishes equal his career-best, achieved at Singapore in 2023.

But with Red Bull not expected to confirm their driver pairings until next week, it’s anyone’s guess as to who will get the nod to step in alongside Verstappen and contend for the 2025 constructors title.

Now, we wait.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission