Pit stop error costs Liam Lawson dearly

By Alex Powell

Like in life, there’s no substitute for timing in Formula One.

For Liam Lawson, timing was the difference between a potential career-best result, and a pit stop error that ended any hopes of a points finish at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, before being forced to retire in the final moments.

In the final confirmed race of the Kiwi’s six-race stint, a poorly-timed mistake in the pits saw Lawson’s front left wheel not attached properly by his Racing Bulls crew, meaning he needed a second successive stop, and was slapped with a 10-second time penalty.

At the time, Lawson was 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.

Higher up, Lando Norris’ fourth win of the season was enough for McLaren to end a wait for the constructors championship that dates back 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 lineup across two teams for 2025, Lawson at the very least finished above stablemate Sergio Perez.

However, teammate Yuki Tsunoda taking 13th place will leave the Kiwi looking over his shoulder at just who wins a place next to world champion Max 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 - Max Verstappen and Perez - were hit.

Verstappen made contact with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and earned both drivers 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 competition for sixth in the constructors championship both opting for two-stop strategies, Racing Bulls kept both Lawson and Tsunoda one a 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 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 meanwhile 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