Liam Lawson says he cannot explain how Arvid Lindblad avoided a penalty for their clash at Saturday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Liam Lawson Arvid Lindblad Baku collision left his Racing Bulls car with a hole in its floor. The FIA stewards investigated the contact at a safety car restart and took no action against Lindblad. That decision left Lawson baffled, even as his teammate apologised in the media pen afterwards.
Lawson Questions Stewards’ Decision After Baku Collision
Lawson made his frustration clear once the stewards confirmed there would be no punishment for Lindblad. Speaking after the race in Baku, he questioned the logic behind his teammate’s move at Turn 1. He felt there was never enough room for it to work.
Lawson told a Crash.net report after the race: “I’ve always tried to keep clear, and it’s been obviously aggressive at points this year, but…” he added, “I don’t know, going into Turn 1 there to try and fit through the middle of two cars like that, I don’t think it was ever really going to happen.”
Stewards Decline Penalty as Lawson Details Floor Damage
The stewards’ written verdict pointed to restricted space on track and a chain reaction of cars ahead as the reasons no penalty followed. For Lawson, that explanation did little to soften the impact, both on the result and on his car.
“Great for the team.” “Obviously I’m not going to go and protest my team-mate, but I don’t understand it, because I got hit so hard that it put a hole in my floor,” Lawson said. The damage cost him performance for the rest of the afternoon, even before the wider effect on his finishing position became clear.
Lawson was adamant he had left space rather than closed a door. “I was just turning for the corner, giving the guy space.” “From where I’m sitting I don’t understand, but let’s say it’s great for the team,” he said. It felt like a case of the stewards handing Racing Bulls a favourable result, even if that was hard for Lawson to accept personally.
Restart Chaos at Turn 1 Compromises Racing Bulls Results
Lindblad’s own account painted a picture of a restart that was difficult to control long before the cars reached Turn 1. Baku’s long run to the first corner has caused problems at safety car restarts before, and this one was no different.
“It was an absolute mess,” Lindblad said. “I think as you see on almost all safety car restarts here in Baku it gets quite chaotic in Turn 1,” he explained. “I don’t know what was happening at the front, but it was pretty poorly managed in the sense that the field wasn’t bunched up.”
He described an accordion effect building on the straight. “From where we were, me and Esteban, we’d gone, or Ollie [Bearman], about three times on the straight; we’d sort of gone and braked and gone again.” “So it was complete chaos, the battery wasn’t in a good window because of that.”
He then explained the moment of contact itself. “Everyone braked a little bit too late in Turn 1 and I was going to make the move on Esteban,” Lindblad said. “He moved in the last minute, basically moved under braking, so [I] had to take avoiding action, which meant I locked the front slightly and I hit Liam.”
The Liam Lawson Arvid Lindblad Baku collision shaped both drivers’ afternoons. Lindblad recovered to beat Esteban Ocon to the line and finished seventh, while Lawson dropped to twelfth.
Racing Bulls Turn Attention to Next Round Following Baku Clash
Lindblad was quick to address the fallout once he climbed from the car. “So obviously I’ve apologised to him already,” he said. “I’ve apologised to the team because it’s not something you want, because there could have been two of us in the points today, but also at the same time we take the result.” He acknowledged the missed chance for a stronger team haul.
Racing Bulls now shift focus to the next round, with the Baku incident behind them. Lawson’s public unease over the stewards’ reasoning is likely to follow the team into the coming week.
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