Liam Lawson Impresses in US Grand Prix Qualifying Despite Grid Penalty and Alonso Feud

Liam Lawson, the 22-year-old New Zealand driver, made a significant impact during his first weekend back in Formula 1 at the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. Despite facing a substantial 60-place grid penalty for changing engine components, Lawson demonstrated impressive speed and competitiveness.

In the qualifying session, Lawson produced the third-fastest time in the first stage, clocking 1m 33.339s around the 5.5km Circuit of the Americas. This performance placed him ahead of many seasoned veterans, including his Japanese teammate Yuki Tsunoda, and was only slower than Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc.

Lawson chose not to contest the second stage of qualifying, knowing he would start at the back of the grid due to the penalties. However, his time in the first stage would have placed him eighth in Q2 and ninth in Q3, highlighting his potential and the car’s performance. “From my side, just happy to put the lap together,” Lawson said. “I put the performance there and showed the speed we felt from P1 yesterday… the car felt good.”

Lawson’s weekend was also marked by a heated exchange with two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso. During the Sprint race, Alonso expressed dissatisfaction with Lawson’s defensive driving, which he felt was too aggressive. Alonso visited Lawson’s garage to express his frustration and later made a point of driving close to Lawson during qualifying, suggesting a premeditated response to their earlier incident. Lawson acknowledged the tension but downplayed the idea of a rivalry, stating, “I don’t think we have a rivalry, I think we just had an incident in a race and hopefully we can just get over it and move forward.”

Despite the challenges, including starting at the back of the grid, Lawson remains undaunted and is focused on learning and improving over the next few races. With six races to prove his worth to Red Bull, Lawson is determined to make the most of his opportunity and secure a full-time seat in the future.