Liam Lawson narrowly missed a second points finish in as many weeks, in a chaotic finish to Formula One’s Spanish Grand Prix.
The Kiwi drove an aggressive race, but crossed the line in 11th place, as his Racing Bulls team opted to not pit behind a late safety car, which left Lawson prone to a late ambush from Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin, on faster tyres.
“From our side, it was a very strong race,” Lawson said. “We just ended up in the wrong position.
“We missed the safety car line by half a second, probably. Everyone in front of us boxed, and we just got screwed.
“To have it that close after all the work we did in the race just sucks.
“At the end of the day, we’re here to score points, it’s just frustrating.”
The finish denied Lawson what would have been another boost to his confidence after he netted a career-best eighth-place in Monaco last week.
Lawson clashed with Williams’ Alex Albon and Haas’ Ollie Bearman on track, but was found not to be at fault for incidents involving both drivers.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri converted his pole position into his fifth victory of the season, and extended his lead over teammate Lando Norris – who finished second – at the top of the world championship.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took third, while reigning world champion Max Verstappen looked to have finished fourth, but was handed a 10-second penalty for a late incident with Mercedes’ George Russell, which relegated him to 10th place.
Verstappen appeared to deliberately veer into Russell after being asked to hand a place back and was handed three penalty points to his super license, risking a ban if he accrues one more within a given 12-month period.
Lawson’s Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar continued his impressive run of results, and added a further six points with a seventh-place finish. The French rookie was the highest-placed finisher of Red Bull’s four cars, once Verstappen’s penalty was applied.
Piastri now holds a 10-point lead over Norris at the top of the drivers championship, while McLaren hold a 197-point lead at the top of the constructors championship, after Ferrari overtook Mercedes.
Verstappen, meanwhile, has dropped 49 points behind Piastri, as he hunts a fifth-straight world championship.
Following Sunday’s qualifying session, only 18 of the 20 cars were able to start the Grand Prix on track.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was forced out of the race with a wrist injury, and was unable to be replaced by reserve driver Felipe Drugovich, having completed qualifying. Meanwhile, Yuki Tsunoda started from pit lane after qualifying 20th, and Red Bull changing his car setup.
However, with both of those cars having qualified behind Lawson, the Kiwi’s starting position of 13th was unchanged.
That didn’t change by the end of the first lap. Despite Lawson getting the better of Albon off the start line, Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg made up five places on lap one, as his teammate Gabriel Bortoleto was ahead of the Kiwi in 12th.
Lawson had done well to get around Albon off the start line, but touched wheels with Alonso, forced Hulkenberg onto the escape road at turn one, and returned to the track in a superior position than he’d entered on.
Still 13th, the Kiwi took the fight to Bortoleto and closed the gap to the Sauber to less than a second, and put himself into position to overtake using his Drag Reduction System (DRS).
As the first drivers began to pit, Lawson climbed to 11th, before overtaking Bortoleto on lap 13 to move into a share of the points by braking late into turn one with use of his DRS.
On that same lap, Lawson benefited from a rare mistake by Alonso, who left the track after going wide at turn five and finding the gravel to allow the Kiwi up into ninth place.
More pit stops put Lawson into eighth, sandwiched between the two Ferrari cars, before the Kiwi pitted for the first time on lap 19, and emerged in 16th.
Once all cars had taken their first stops, Lawson was 14th, but tangled with Albon at turn one. As Lawson got the better of the Williams on the DRS straight, Albon took to the escape road and emerged in front of the Kiwi.
And while Lawson protested, he got his own back one lap later by getting around Albon, who in turn suffered front wing damage in trying to hold ground on the Racing Bulls. For his part, Albon was handed a 10-second penalty for the incident, before retiring altogether on lap 28.
Lawson was in the thick of it again on lap 31, and collided with Bearman at turn one, looking to break late into the corner. Five laps later, Lawson didn’t need a second invitation, and got around Bearman to return to 10th place, and the points.
On lap 46, Lawson pitted for the final time, and fitted a set of softs to emerge in 13th, albeit with 20 laps still remaining in the Grand Prix, and more than two seconds back from Bearman.
Meanwhile, Alonso was also less than a second back from the Racing Bulls, hunting a points finish on his home track. Another Lawson-Bearman battle forced the Brit to hand a position to the Kiwi, after overtaking on the escape road, as Lawson moved up to 11th with 14 laps remaining.
That, though, left Lawson close to two seconds back from Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, with both cars having made two stops. What’s more, Gasly being on medium tyres meant the Frenchman could just defend, and knew he could be faster at the end of the race.
However, a safety car triggered by Kimi Antonelli coming off the track at turn 10 and retiring from the race with a power unit failure completely changed the complexion of the race.
As the leaders pitted behind the safety car, Lawson climbed into the points once again, but did not pit, with five laps to complete as the green flags waved.
But the restart put Lawson under threat from Bortoleto and Alonso, who were on fresher tyres, and within one second of the Kiwi.
Ultimately, it was Alonso who won out, as the 43-year-old got around Lawson on the penultimate lap, and relegated Lawson into crossing the line 11th.
After three races in the past three weeks, Formula One will return with the Canadian Grand Prix on June 16 (NZ time).
Did not finish: Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes, Alex Albon – Williams
Did not start: Lance Stroll – Aston Martin
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.
Red Bull driver ignored team orders – a stronger deterrent is required.