Lawson reveals US GP software glitch that left him fearing he was breaking the rules

The New Zealand driver had a comfortable drive on his way to finishing ninth in Austin, with his only issue coming during the VSC period when an alarm kept ringing in his ears. The alarm is designed to warn drivers when they are travelling too quickly under the VSC delta. However, the alarm carried on for Lawson despite the Racing Bulls driver slowing down.

The noise made him think he was exceeding the permitted delta, so he slowed down further. When he checked his dashboard, however, he was already around six seconds within the limit.

“I thought I was illegal, and I’m slowing right down,” he said. “Then I looked down, and I’m like six seconds positive. So I’m good. But the things are beeping in my ear, so extremely distracting.”

Lawson suggested the problem may not have been limited to his car, describing it as a possible bug affecting other drivers too, though no driver has yet confirmed this.

After the race, Lawson was asked whether this is the most comfortable and happy he has been in Formula 1. The New Zealand driver is ninth in the standings on 77 points, some 35 points ahead of Pierre Gasly.

Lawson said: "Yeah. I mean, for sure. It's it's a it's a good place. It's been a good year. And, obviously, towards the end of the season now, only a few races there, but, obviously, for me, I'm trying to score as many points as I can this year. I'm gonna try and do that for the rest of the season."