Liam Lawson fought through relentless rain and nearly unmanageable conditions at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, earning a ninth-place finish and valuable points for RB while narrowly avoiding multiple close calls along the way.
From a career-best P5 starting position, Lawson showcased his skill in the tricky conditions, holding his ground against seasoned competitors like Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez in the closing laps.
Unfortunately, a clash with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri resulted in a spin that pushed the Kiwi briefly out of the top ten from where he was able to fight his way to ninth by the time the checkered flag was deployed.
“I nearly crashed the car probably 10 times. It was very sketchy,” he admitted as he reflected on his eventful afternoon. “The most important thing was staying on the track and, fortunately, we were able to do that.”
Throughout the race, Lawson dealt with countless challenges thrown his way, not least of which was the timing of a mid-race red flag triggered by Williams rookie Franco Colapinto.
The RB charger had pitted on Lap 30 for fresh intermediates during a Safety Car period, but shortly afterward, the red flag was called due to worsening conditions. As a result, Lawson lost track position, with Alpine emerging as the biggest benefactor.
“We lost a lot of time in the red flag; that was just really unlucky timing,” Lawson said. “Alpine made the right call there by staying out.
“Honestly, I don’t think we would have made another lap on the inters, it was so wet, so fair play to the guys who did stay out. Something I’ll learn from.
“I think initially I probably jumped the gun a little bit and thought it was too wet. But I’ll learn from that going forward.”
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Along with teammate Yuki Tsunoda’s run to P7 in the race, RB enjoyed a reasonable haul of points in Brazil.
But the Alpine drivers’ remarkable blend of flawless driving and perfect execution that delivered a double-podium finish and a massive 35 points to the Enstone outfit, pushed RB back to P8 in F1’s Constructors’ standings, but just five points adrift of its French rival.
“Obviously they made the most of this,” Lawson noted. “It’s very close, five points, so it’s totally doable for us.
With just three races left in the season – Las Vegas, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi, with Qatar set as a Sprint event – Lawson remains optimistic about his form and the potential to add to his points tally.
“We’ll focus on trying to score some good points in the next one, the last triple-header,” he concluded.
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