A Liam Lawson pit stop strategy gamble failed for Racing Bulls, as the Kiwi was forced to settle for 15th in Formula One’s Singapore Grand Prix.
Returning to the scene of his maiden points two years earlier, Lawson endured a difficult weekend, in which he could only set the 14th best time in qualifying after crashing in both the second and third practice sessions.
And while the Kiwi drove admirably to make his first set of tyres last 49 of the 62 laps at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, relying on others making mistakes to net any gains was always going to be a risk.
Lawson had been as high as eighth place before his pit stop, but was left with too much to do without any intervention, as all 20 drivers managed to cross the finish line.
This isn’t the first time this season a strategy gamble hasn’t paid off for Lawson.
In Japan, Racing Bulls banked on rain that never arrived, before the Italian Grand Prix had him as the only driver to start on soft tyres,
To rub salt into Lawson’s wounds, Williams’ Carlos Sainz made use of the same strategy, but was able to emerge from the pits in 14th, before taking advantage of faster tyres to finish 10th and claim the final point, having gone one lap longer than the Kiwi in his first stint.
“We just went very, very long [and] stayed out most of the race on that set of mediums,” Lawson explained.
“Honestly, I don’t really know, I need to have a look at what happened. Carlos was behind me, and then he ended up finishing 10th.
“I came out behind the train, and he was in front of the train. I need to have a look why.
“It’s frustrating, but for me the damage was mostly done yesterday. Something to reflect on, for sure, going forward.
“The pace decent, but not quite good enough - but I think it was good enough for points, had we started higher.”
At the front of the grid, Mercedes’ George Russell converted pole position into his second victory of the season, after leading for the majority of the race.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took second place, bringing an end to his run of successive victories after Monza and Azerbaijan.
McLaren meanwhile sealed the constructors championship, as Lando Norris completed the podium in third, with Oscar Piastri in fourth.
However, even after retaining their status as world champions, McLaren do face an internal battle to keep both drivers happy.
An opening lap incident saw Norris overtake Piastri after contact at turn two, but no team orders were given to return the place.
That comes after the Italian Grand Prix, where Piastri was ordered to let Norris pass him after a slow pit stop, in the interest of fairness.
Singapore cuts Piastri’s championship lead to 22 points from Norris, while no changes were made to the constructors championship order.
Lawson’s Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar was not able to convert a top 10 start into points, as engine issues saw his eighth-placed start turn into crossing the line 11th. Meanwhile, the Kiwi’s 2026 seat rival Yuki Tsunoda was 12th, after he started 13th - one place behind Lawson.
Rain an hour before lights out left water on the surface in the second and third sectors, as turn 13 saw several drivers troubled on the formation lap.
Starting 12th, following Williams’ twin qualifying disqualifications, Lawson initially lost a place to Yuki Tsunoda off the start line, but was able to claw it back into turn three, as the Red Bull driver fell as far down as 17th when he was passed by cars on slower tyres.
With four Drag Reduction System (DRS) zones available on the Marina Bay Street Circuit, Lawson kept within a second of Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg on the opening laps, and put himself in position to try and overtake.
At the same time, with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll behind Lawson on soft tyres, the Kiwi was able to breathe a tad easier, given the pair couldn’t push on the more temperate compound.
A yellow flag on lap seven temporarily halted Lawson’s attack on Hulkenberg, disabling DRS to see the Sauber move out of overtaking range by lap 11.
Pit stops, then, became key for any chance of the Kiwi moving up the field. On lap 21, Lawson gained a position when Hadjar pitted, and then moved inside the top 10 on lap 24 when Haas’ Ollie Bearman did the same.
And as Lawson passed the 30 lap mark, then 35, and then 40, it became clear that Racing Bulls were hoping for a safety car to effectively give the Kiwi a free stop with cars having to slow behind him.
At the same time, Stroll making his soft tyres last 40 laps began to create a gap behind Lawson, which was more than seven seconds by the time the Aston Martin stopped for the first time.
Once Stroll did pit, Lawson came under attack from Sainz and Alonso, as that seven second gap became less than one. On lap 48, Alonso got around both to move ninth, as the hope for a safety car faded for Racing Bulls and Williams.
On lap 49, Racing Bulls finally gave up the ghost, and called Lawson into the pits, and dropped the Kiwi from eighth to 19th, to leave 12 laps to make up as many places as possible on a set of soft tyres.
With any realistic chance for a points finish scuppered, Lawson was able to overtake four drivers to move from 19th to 15th, getting around Ocon, Gabriel Bortoleto’s Sauber and both Alpine cars, but was ultimately left to rue the practice mistakes that saw him qualify so far back.
Formula One will now take a week off, before returning later this month for the US Grand Prix at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas.
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.