Formula 1 result: Liam Lawson finishes seventh on Sao Paulo Grand Prix grid
Recap of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix where Liam Lawson went with a one-stop strategy and held onto seventh.
Read all about it
Cameron McMillan
Christopher Reive with the race report.
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Title race
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Norris now has a 24-point lead in the championship with three races to go.
1 Lando Norris 390
2 Oscar Piastri 366
3 Max Verstappen 341
Lawson moves into 14th on 36 points, now eight points ahead of Tsunoda as they fight for a seat next year
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Where was Yuki?
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Yuki Tsunoda finishes in 17th after a tough day where he had to repeat his penalty in the pits.
Liam Lawson finishes seventh
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An impressive effort from Lawson who in the end holds off teammate Isack Hadjar on the last lap and finishes in seventh picking up six points. The two Racing Bulls actually touched on the first turn of the final lap.
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Kimi Antonelli second and Max Verstappen third. What a drive.
Lando Norris wins
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Last lap
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Hadjar moves into eighth! So Lawson should be safe for points.
Two laps to go
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Lawson on tyres that are almost 50 laps on is still holding up to seventh place. Drama as they go into the last two laps.
Battle for second
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Lando Norris looks set for the win. Antonelli hanging up to hold off Verstappen at the moment.
Three laps to go
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Lawson now has Hulkenberg, Hadjar and Gasly all close behind him. The Kiwi remains in seventh.
Four laps to go
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Lawson holds off another pass attempt from Hulkenberg.
Lawson going great job
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He continues to hold off the Sauber who is also on older tyres. But he Hulkenberg gets by then Lawson may have to let Hadjar go by as well so he'd give up two spots.
Eight laps to go
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Lawson still holding off Hulkenberg. Lawson going for the one-stopper but can he keep it going?
Verstappen moves into third
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Great move on Russell and the Red Bull is now in a podium spot after starting in pitlane. Amazing.
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Lawson could help out teammate Hadjar by holding up Hulkenberg for a bit.
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Lawson been on these medium tyres for 40 laps now. Could they do another 10?
Lawson loses another spot
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Bearman goes by the Kiwi for seventh. Might be time to pit for Lawson and chase the final spot for points on fresh tyres.
18 laps to go
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Verstappen leads Norris by seven seconds but the Red Bull is on older tyres. Should be a great finish.
Lawson drops back to sixth
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The two Mercedes get by Lawson and he's now sixth. The Kiwi still has to pit at some point.
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That fourth spot doesn't last long as Antonelli passes Lawson. He now had Russell right behind him.
Norris pits and Verstappen leads after starting the race from pitlane!
Both Mercedes pit
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And Lawson fourth for now.
'Don't shout and me...thank you'
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Hadjar not happy and tells his team on the radio as they offer encouragement. He remains in 12th after that pit stop. Didn't seem like a good time to pit but he may stay out there for rest of the race.
Lawson is some space for now
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He has Piastri eight seconds ahead and Bearman more than eight seconds behind.
Cars out
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Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Gabriel Bortoleto.
Bearman pits, Lawson up to sixth
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Lawson gains another spot and is sitting sixth.
As it stands
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So Lawson in seventh with Bearman behind him but both on older tyres. Lawson will need to pit one more time so he'll be hovering around the points. Teammate Hadjar just pitted and is already back to 14th.
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Oscar Piastri eventually does get by Lawson in the battle for sixth.
Lawson up to seventh
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Piastri serves his 10 second penalty and comes out behind Lawson who is seventh now as teammate Hadjar pits for a second time. Lando Norris back in the lead.
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Leader Piastri the only car yet to pit.
More cars pit and Lawson back into top 10
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The Kiwi is now ninth but he has Verstappen right behind him now after the defending champion pits again.
Oscar Piastri in the lead
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...but he has a 10 second penalty and has yet to pit. Albon and Hulkenberg also yet to pit so Lawson should gain those two spots.
Leader Norris pits
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And he comes back out behind Verstappen in fourth.
Yuki Tsunoda fails to serve penalty
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The Red Bull comes into the pits for his 10 second penalty. But he's told that he didn't serve it properly and he now has to do a drive through. He'll remain in last.
Lawson now 14th
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Six cars ahead of him have yet to pit but that includes the two McLarens who are too far ahead.
Lawson moves up to 15th
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He came out of the pits and found himself behind Ocon and Gasly but he gets by Ocon and into 15th.
Kimi Antonelli pits
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So the McLarens remain in the top two and apart from George Russell every other car which was in the top 10 has pitted.
Liam Lawson now pits
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And he rejoins the race in 16th.
Isack Hadjar and Pierre Gasly pit
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So Lawson moves into fifth and gets some space behind him.
Max Verstappen flying
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He has set the fastest lap and is already in ninth after starting the race from pitlane.
Bearman pits
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So Lawson gains a spot for now.
Lawson battling with Gasly
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The Apine right on the back of the Racing Bull but Lawson holding him off for now. Lawson is 1.2 seconds behind Bearman.
Oscar Piastri gets 10 second penalty
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The McLaren given a slap on the hand for causing the incident at the restart. He'll need to find some space from Antonelli by the end of the race.
Bearman gets by Lawson
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And the Kiwi is now seventh, where he started the day.
Yuki Tsunoda gets a 10 second penalty for going into the back of Lance Stroll.
Back to normal racing
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So after a stop-start beginning they are actually racing and it's the two McLaren's out front but Piastri may get a penalty for causing that incident on the restart. Vertsappen already up to 16th.
Russell now gets by Hadjar. So the Racing Bulls now fifth and sixth.
George Russell gets by Lawson
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Lawson moves back to sixth. Lost a bit of traction on the restart.
Virtual safety car ends
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And they're back racing.
Lawson gains another place
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The Kiwi was lucky to avoid the drama there and also the rolling tyre of Leclerc that bounced down the track. So he's already gained two places. Max Verstappen has to pit and he's now back of the pack.
Drama on the restart
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Charles Leclerc is out now and Lawson moves up to fifth. The Ferrari loses and tyre and his day is over. All started when Piastri forced Leclerc into Antonelli.
Safety car remains out there
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Lap five of 71 and they remain under yellow as the track is being cleared with both Bortoleto and Hamilton leaving damage on the track. Doesn't look like Hamilton will stay out there much longer.
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Hamilton clipped by Carlos Sainz, who used to be in that Ferrari.
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Not a good weekend for the lone Brazilian driver on the grid. Bortoleto had a bad crash late in the sprint race which saw him miss qualifying for the grand prix all together, now his race is over on the first lap.
At the back
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Lewis Hamilton into the pits with damage and he's in last. Yuki Tsunoda 18th and Max Verstappen 16th.
Gabriel Bortoleto out already
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The local driver hits the wall and the yellow flag is out. Lance Stroll clips him and his race is over on lap one.
Lawson moves into sixth
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The Kiwi gets by George Russell early.
And they're off
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Lights out and they're away.
Formation lap
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It's 197m to first breaking point at turn one where we could see a bit of drama. Lawson will begin on the softs.
Tyre choices
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It looks like we'll see a few different strategies in play today. Liam Lawson is one of eight drivers starting on softs, seven drivers will start on the mediums, with the other five on hards.
Not far away
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Overcast and dry at the moment with some dark clouds in the distance.
Will we see safety car today?
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A little bit of drizzle around with showers possible during the race. The safety car has been out every year the last five years in Brazil.
Grid walk time
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First it's Felipe Massa then Billy Idol!
Racing Bulls Alan Permane says: "We can race. Tough to move forward and if we can keep everyone behind us, we'll be good."
Linkin Park also hanging around.
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Last year
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A bit different 12 months ago for Verstappen and Ocon who finished 1-2 at the 2024 Brazil Grand Prix, today they'll start from parc fermé . Pierre Gasly finished third.
Lawson had a top 10. Can he do it again?
Christopher Reive
Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Haas' Esteban Ocon will both start from the pit lane today, after set-up changes and new power units for both. They qualified 16th and 17th respectively so no major move there.
Rain coming
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Might get a bit wet today in Sao Paulo. Fans are wearing their ponchos.
How they qualified
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All the action from yesterday's qualifying session. Lawson's Racing Bull's teammate Isack Hadjar also making Q3 and will start in P5.
Good morning
Cameron McMillan
Welcome to live coverage of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix which begins at 6am. Liam Lawson impressed in qualifying yesterday and will start from seventh on the grid. A good chance to race for decent points in Brazil in front of his Red Bull bosses, especially with rival Yuki Tsunoda starting [looking down the grid], oh there he is in 19th. Ouch. Actually he's been moved up to 17th with two cars starting in pitlane.
In qualifying for the Formula One sprint race in Sao Paulo, Liam Lawson and his Racing Bulls team got their timing all wrong.
They did not make the same mistake in qualifying for the grand prix.
Lawson will start seventh on the grid for the main event of the weekend at the Interlagos Circuit after a strong performance in qualifying.
He is joined in the top 10 by teammate Isack Hadjar, who will start fifth, in a performance that would leave a casual fan questioning who the top team of the Red Bull stable are.
While Lawson and Hadjar soared, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen (16) and Yuki Tsunoda (19) were eliminated in the first qualifying session (Q1).
According to the broadcast, it was the first time since 2006 that both Red Bull entries were eliminated in Q1 for a grand prix, while it was the first time Verstappen was eliminated at that stage since 2021.
The Kiwi’s best lap in Q3 of 1m 09.962s was 0.451s off the pace set by pole-sitter Lando Norris, who again put his McLaren at the top of the grid. It will be the same front row as it was for the sprint race on Sunday morning, with Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli the second-fastest car on track.
“It’s positive. Obviously we’re going to analyse the details. We lost a little bit of time in the lap and that’s definitely cost us a few positions, but when it’s this close in these kinds of conditions, I think everybody’s got that story. It’s a decent place for tomorrow,” Lawson said.
“Trying to score points, that’s the target. Both cars in Q3 obviously which puts us in a good position, so we’ll definitely give it a good shot.”
Lawson will start next to Haas’ Oliver Bearman on the grid for the grand prix, which adds a bit of spice to the mixture after the two collided at turn four on the first lap of the sprint race.
Lawson looked to have been given room on the inside before Bearman turned in. That saw the Kiwi Racing Bulls driver clip the Haas and send it into a spin, but both drivers were able to continue in the race.
The pair were called to share their sides of the incident with the stewards after the race, and both drivers were handed a five-second time penalty and one penalty point.
Bearman was penalised for driving in a manner deemed potentially dangerous, while Lawson was penalised for causing a collision – his ruling released about 40 minutes later.
“As Car 30 [Lawson] attempted to move alongside, the driver of Car 87 [Bearman] moved to the left, leaving insufficient room and forcing Car 30 to place two wheels on the wet grass. Although Car 30 managed to keep control and avoid contact, this manoeuvre occurred at high speed and created an unnecessary risk,” the stewards said in their ruling for Bearman’s penalty.
For Lawson’s, they said: “Video evidence from circuit cameras and on-board footage did not clearly establish whether the front axle of Car 30 was at least momentarily alongside the rear-view mirror of Car 87 prior to the apex, let alone whether this overlap was maintained at the apex – as would be required under the Driving Standards Guidelines for an overtaking car on the inside to be entitled to racing room."
Lawson finished 13th after starting in 17th place, in what turned into a rather hectic sprint, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and Kick Sauber duo Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto all going into the barriers. However, after his time penalty was applied, Lawson dropped down to 16th.
It was on lap six that things started to get interesting when Piastri took the kerb at turn four. The kerb was still holding water after overnight rain, which sent the Australian spinning into the barriers.
Within seconds, he was joined there by Hulkenberg and then Colapinto, who did the exact same thing.
The carnage saw red flags come out and the race was suspended as the track was cleared. Hulkenberg was able to continue, but Piastri and Colapinto’s teams have work to do ahead of qualifying.
When racing resumed from a rolling start, Lawson was in 13th and while he was passed by both Bearman and Haas teammate Esteban Ocon on lap 17, Bortoleto going into the barriers at turn one on the final lap – impacting Williams’ Alex Albon in the process – saw Lawson back into 13th at the finish.
Bortoleto did not feature in qualifying due to the damage to his car, and will start from the back of the grid in the grand prix
Sao Paulo Grand Prix grid
Sprint race results
DNF: Oscar Piastri – McLaren, Franco Colapinto – Williams, Gabriel Bortoleto – Kick Sauber.
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.