Liam Lawson at the Mexican Grand Prix. Photo / Getty Images
Liam Lawson at the Mexican Grand Prix. Photo / Getty Images
Liam Lawson’s chance for points at the Mexican Grand Prix were dashed, as late damage ended the Kiwi’s hopes of another points finish, and he settled for 16th place.
After a strong drive where the Kiwi started 12th and rose as high as fourth thanks to pit strategy, a clash with Williams’ Franco Colapinto on the 67th of 71 laps forced Lawson into a second pit stop and the back of the grid.
Having started 12th on the grid, the 22-year-old put in another impressive drive in the RB, in a race where nothing went to plan for the four Red Bull cars at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Lawson had the better of Perez all weekend, as pressure mounts on the struggling 34-year-old. The Kiwi was faster in practice on Saturday, and outqualified Perez on Sunday, with the pair battling to impress Red Bull to end the season.
So palpable was the tension between the two drivers, Lawson was seen giving Perez the finger when he overtook him on the main straight.
While Perez was ahead of the Kiwi, another late pit stop saw him attempt to try to complete the fastest lap – only for the plan to backfire and see that honour go to Leclerc.
Ferrari claimed a second victory in as many races, this time through Carlos Sainz, while McLaren’s Lando Norris landed a major blow in the race for the world championship to finish second.
Charles Leclerc completed the podium in third, while championship leader Max Verstappen was forced to settle for sixth place after two separate penalties.
The result cut Verstappen’s lead at the top of the drivers championship to 47 points from Norris, with four Grands Prix and two sprint races left in the season.
Meanwhile, Red Bull have fallen to third in the constructors championship, with Ferrari passing them into second on 537 points, with McLaren leading the way on 566.
As was the case in Austin a week ago, Lawson started on the hard tyre, with the intention of finishing the race on the quicker medium compound.
Needing to better Yuki Tsunoda at the very least, Lawson was fortunate to avoid a major incident before the first corner that saw his teammate out of the race entirely.
Tsunoda and Williams’ Alex Albon connected heading into turn one, ending both drivers’ race early and triggering a safety car. However, the pair’s misfortune resulted in Lawson climbing from 12th to 10th and into points contention early.
And in Lawson’s quest to be the strongest Red Bull car after Verstappen, Sergio Perez being hit by a five-second penalty for an early start played right into the Kiwi’s hands.
Once the race resumed, Red Bull’s woes continued when Verstappen was handed a 10-second penalty for forcing Norris off the track, while Perez climbed to 11th – one spot back from the Kiwi.
With a gap of less than half-a-second, lap 18 saw Lawson and Perez come wheel to wheel in the battle for 10th place, and the Kiwi emerged victorious, with the Mexican heard telling his race engineer “what the f*** is this idiot doing?”
Perez pitting on lap 22 brought an early end to the battle with Lawson, but when Verstappen was hit by another 10-second penalty, the Kiwi loomed as potentially Red Bull’s best car at the chequered flag.
Verstappen served his two penalties in his first pit stop, which saw Lawson climb to ninth, all while hunting down Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in front of him.
Liam Lawson at the Mexican Grand Prix. Photo / Getty Images
Pressure from Lawson saw Gasly pit on lap 29, as the Kiwi climbed as high as fourth when more and more cars went for their first stops.
But with his tyres aging, Lawson’s battle ceased to be what was in front of him, and instead became the challenge of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri behind him.
And despite Lawson defending valiantly against the challenge, the pace of his RB car ultimately told as he lost two places on two corners once Piastri and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton overtook him.
Still, at the halfway point of the 71-lap race, Lawson was still seventh, and a serious chance of bettering the ninth from Austin a week previous.
Even with a 20-second penalty served, Verstappen showed his class, and got past Lawson on lap 39 to try to salvage something from the race in his battle for the world championship.
Come lap 40, Lawson finally pitted for the medium tyres, and even if he emerged at the back of the pack down in 17th, the Kiwi was still faster on the faster compound than all but Perez ahead of him.
Lawson made quick work of Perez, and overtook his Red Bull stablemate on the first straight, and gained another place when Guanyu Zhou pitted one lap later.
As the drivers on a two-stop strategy pitted for their final stints, Lawson climbed from 17th to 12th, however, the threat of rain loomed to potentially dramatically alter the complexion of the race.
But while the weather ultimately played ball, Colapinto didn’t. Seeking his own drive for 2025, the Argentina came wheel to wheel with Lawson, who ended up second best as a second pit stop ended his chances of taking anything from the race.
Formula One will finish its block of three races in three weeks at Interlagos next week for the Brazilian Grand Prix, in a weekend that also contains a sprint race next Sunday morning (NZ time).
Alex Powell is an Online Sports Editor for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016, and previously worked for both Newshub and 1News.
