MIAMI, Florida — When Liam Lawson returned to the Formula 1 grid at last season’s United States Grand Prix, he immediately got his “elbows out” with veteran driver Fernando Alonso, as highlighted by Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner in his comments to the media following the race that Sunday in Austin.
Those elbows were as sharp as ever in the F1 Sprint race here at the Miami Grand Prix, and they have now resulted in a post-race penalty — and a penalty point — for the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls driver.
In the closing stages of the F1 Sprint race here at the Miami Grand Prix, Lawson was trying to overtake Alonso on the outside into Turn 11. While Lawson pulled alongside Alonso, he never completed the pass, and as Alonso began to enter the right-handed corner at Turn 12, Lawson made contact with the right-rear tire of Alonso’s Aston Martin, sending the veteran driver spinning.
You can see the incident here:
Both drivers were summoned to meet with race officials, along with team representatives. Following that hearing the stewards issued their decision, finding Lawson at fault for causing the collision. Not only did the stewards hand down a five-second penalty — applied after the F1 Sprint race — but they also added one penalty point to Lawson’s F1 Super License, bringing his total to six.
If a driver receives 12 penalty points in a calendar year, they are given a one-race suspension.
In the stewards’ decision, they found that:
Car 30 was attempting an overtake on the outside of Car 14 into Turn 11. Although being able to pull fully alongside, the front axle of Car 30 was not ahead of the front
axle of Car 14 at the apex as required per the Driving Standards Guidelines. Therefore Car 30 was not entitled to be given room at the exit. Due to the layout of the track, the car which has the right to the racing line in Turn 11 also has the right to the racing line in Turn 12.
Car 30 drove to the very edge of the track between Turns 11 and 12 and collided with Car 14 on the approach to Turn 12. The Stewards determine that Car 30 was predominantly at fault and therefore consider a 5 seconds penalty to be appropriate taking into account the track conditions.
Both Alonso and Lawson will now reset for qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix, which starts here at Hard Rock Stadium in a matter of moments.