Liam Lawson takes 14th place in drama-filled Qatar Grand Prix

By Alex Powell

A 14th-placed on-track finish at the Qatar Grand Prix doesn’t tell the whole story of an otherwise chaotic race for Kiwi Liam Lawson.

On a night that saw three separate yellow flags and safety cars, and five different drivers retire altogether, and penalties rain like confetti, the 22-year-old Kiwi’s efforts to merely cross the finish line should be commended, despite himself being penalised for an early incident.

From the word “go”, there was no shortage of drama at the Losail International Circuit, in a race that saw Red Bull’s Max Verstappen take his ninth victory of 2024, a week after claiming a fourth successive world title.

But as far as Lawson is concerned, the Kiwi can and will take solace from completing the race on a weekend where Red Bull rivals Sergio Perez and Franco Colapinto failed to do the same.

Teammate Yuki Tsunoda can at the very least claim bragging rights over Lawson with 13th place, however, both drivers’ failure to score points does leave Racing Bulls with a lot to do in the race to finish sixth in the constructors championship.

While the Kiwi will be forgiven for being disappointed with his race weekend, that also saw him take 16th in the sprint, Lawson showed marked improvement from the same race a year ago, where he was the last of the on-track drivers to finish.

With the drivers title secured by Verstappen, the constructors will be decided in the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi next week.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finishing second and Carlos Sainz taking sixth closed the gap on championship leaders McLaren, who saw Oscar Piastri take third, while a late penalty denied Lando Norris the second step on the podium.

McLaren sit atop the standings with 640 points heading into the season’s final race, while Ferrari trail by 31 points in second, with tens of millions of dollars on the line.

Racing Bulls meanwhile face a fight to try and finish sixth in the constructors, with Monday’s result leaving them eighth, 13 points behind Haas in sixth.

In Sunday’s (NZ time) sprint race, Lawson started 10th, but lost six places by the end of the first lap. Just over 24 hours later, the Kiwi made up three places having qualified 17th, and rose to 14th by the time a yellow flag and safety car were triggered.

At the first corner, a three-car incident accounted for Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Williams’ Colapinto, while the instigator - Nico Hulkenberg of Haas - survived.

However, when the safety car came in on lap five, Lawson went wheel to wheel with Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, and lost control of his car to drop from 14th to 18th after leaving the track altogether.

On faster tyres, Lawson was able to get around Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, who was also penalised for a collision with Williams’ Alex Albon on the opening lap, before retiring altogether.

To make matters worse, the Kiwi was also hit by a 10-second penalty for his role in the incident. Post-race, Lawson apologised to Bottas for the collision.

“In these conditions, we’re trying to do everything we can for warm-up,” he said. “I thought I had more grip than I did. I went into turn one trying to make the move.

“I got halfway around the corner and realised I didn’t have the grip. From that point, I spun trying not to hit Valtteri, and I guess I did.

“I’m sorry for that, it wasn’t my intention.”

At the same time, Tsunoda also struggled to hold his position, and dropped from 10th down to 14th before the first pit stops.

By the time the first cars came in for their pit stops on lap 24, Lawson had closed the gap to Hulkenberg to less than two seconds, even as the Kiwi rose to 15th by drivers coming in before him.

In shambolic scenes, though, lap 30 saw Albon lose his wing mirror in the middle of the main straight, only for the race stewards to delay orders to retrieve it, and leave the area under a yellow flag.

Four laps later, Bottas ran over the mirror, and the resulting debris caused damage to the pair of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who were both forced to pit with tyre punctures.

When a safety car was eventually called for, five laps too late, Lawson was 13th. And as the Kiwi served his 10-second penalty, the damage suffered by other drivers saw him emerge from the pits in 15th, three places behind Tsunoda.

As the safety car ended on lap 40, Red Bull’s Perez spun at the restart and was forced to retire, while Hulkenberg also found the gravel to bring a third yellow flag.

However, that yellow flag saw both Lawson and Tsunoda pit again for the faster soft tyre, and set up an on-track shootout between the two Racing Bulls teammates.

Once the third safety car ended, Hamilton and McLaren’s Norris were both hit with penalties, for speeding in the pit lane and failing to slow for yellow flags respectively.

Their misfortune moved Lawson up to 13th, as Tsunoda was able to open up a lead of more than a second over his teammate, and move him out of range of a Drag Reduction System aided overtake.

Norris’ and Hamilton’s faster cars on newer tyres saw them get around Lawson at the start of lap 51 and 55, even as the Kiwi was able to pass Albon for one last time to complete his race in 14th.

Lawson will complete his six-race stint of this season’s Formula One championship in Abu Dhabi next weekend, before Red Bull decide where his future lies.

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