Stewards surprised Lawson with their verdict on 'rookie mistake'
Photo: Race Pictures
Kada Sárközi joined GPblog as an editor ahead of the 2023 Formula 1 season. He graduated with a BA in Sports Journalism in the UK and has covered Grands Prix and other F1 events live.
Liam Lawson finds it hard to understand how his incident with his teammate did not lead to a penalty, but it is certainly not something he will protest.
During the first Safety Car restart, not only did Franco Colapinto cause an incident that knocked Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris out of contention, but Arvid Lindblad also hit Lawson heading into Turn 1.
Lawson ended up crossing the finish line, but was unable to score any points because of damage to his car. Over the team radio, the New Zealander was furious. He said: "Man, I love getting taken out by my teammate. That's pretty sick."
Unlike Colapinto, the young British driver was not penalized, and he ended up scoring important points for his team after finishing seventh in their battle for fifth place in constructors' standings against Alpine.
Lawson said after the race: "I need to watch it, but, obviously, we're coming into Turn 1. I had massive, like, boost lag, and I didn't have any power. So Esteban [Ocon] was next to me. I tried to give him space, and then I just got hit from my left so hard that it put a hole in the floor, and then we couldn't really fight after that.
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Lawson's car facing the wrong way after being hit by Lindblad in Baku - Photo: Race Pictures
"So I don't really know what happened. But, obviously, from where I'm sitting, there's not really space to go through the middle there. So it's not ideal. Yeah. I mean, obviously, on the positive, we scored points as a team. We got very, very lucky today.
"Arvid came to apologize. He said he locked up and that he had nowhere to go. So, yeah, I need to watch it, but it's not ideal."
The Racing Bulls driver was also surprised that Lindblad was not handed a penalty. "Obviously, I'm not going to go and protest my teammate, but it's just, I don't know, I don't understand it because I got hit so hard that it put a hole in my floor, and I was just turning for the corner giving the guy space. So from where I'm sitting, I don't understand, but, yes, it's let's say it's great for the team."
Lindblad apologizes to Lawson
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