Lawson Frustrated as Lindblad Escapes Penalty for Baku Crash That Damaged His Floor

Liam Lawson voiced his frustration after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix stewards decided to take no further action against Racing Bulls teammate Arvid Lindblad, following a high-speed collision that severely damaged Lawson’s car floor.

The incident unfolded on lap 30 during a safety car restart triggered by Alexander Albon’s crash. As the race went green, Franco Colapinto suffered a massive lock-up, taking out both Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris. In the ensuing chaos, Lindblad braked later than Lawson and Esteban Ocon ahead of him, becoming sandwiched between the two cars and spinning Lawson’s vehicle.

The stewards ruled that the collision was caused by “the restricted space available to [Lindblad] and the chain reaction caused by the incident ahead,” allowing the rookie to avoid a penalty. However, Lawson, speaking before reviewing the official footage, strongly disagreed with the decision.

“I don’t understand it, because I got hit so hard that it put a hole in my floor,” Lawson explained. “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.”

Lawson detailed his own perspective of the Turn 1 incident, explaining that he suffered severe boost lag and lost power, forcing him to yield space to Ocon on his right. He argued that attempting to squeeze through the middle between two cars was never a viable option.

“I’ve always tried to keep clear, and it’s been obviously aggressive at points this year, but… 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,” he added.

Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls, Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

When asked if the stewards’ ruling benefited the team at his personal expense, Lawson acknowledged the team’s gain while reiterating his confusion. “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. 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.”

Lindblad apologized to Lawson over the team radio as soon as possible. In the media pen, the rookie offered his side of the story, partly blaming Esteban Ocon for moving under braking—a claim that race footage does not support.

“From where we were, me and Esteban, we’d gone 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,” Lindblad explained. “And then everyone braked a little bit too late in Turn 1, and I was going to make the move on Esteban and 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.”

“I said ‘I’m sorry’ on the radio, but in the end it’s not intentional. If you watch the video back you can see there’s nothing intentional about what I do. The stewards said ‘no further action’, which obviously I’m happy about, but in the end, I don’t know what you want me to do. If we’re all on the limit, we all brake very late, and the guy in front of me moves in the last second… There were many incidents. There was nothing I could do, and it is what it is.”

Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls

Photo by: Alex Pantling / LAT Images via Getty Images

Lindblad added that the team management assured him, “We can see there’s not much you could have done,” though he still expected some form of reprimand.

Despite the intra-team collision, Racing Bulls emerged with strong results. Lindblad recovered to seventh place, securing the position ahead of Ocon by a mere 0.03 seconds. Furthermore, Alpine failed to score points after Colapinto’s costly error, resulting in a significant 13-point swing in the constructors’ championship. Racing Bulls now lead the battle for fifth place by 15 points.

“We got very, very lucky today that Alpine didn’t, honestly. We didn’t have [their] speed,” Lawson admitted.

Lindblad agreed, pointing out that the team had struggled significantly throughout the weekend. “It’s been one of the first times this season we’ve struggled to get out of Q1. So to be best of the rest and scoring massive points is absolutely amazing. It’s not been an easy weekend, but points are scored on Sunday.”

Lindblad may not actually score any points this Sunday, but he did get the job done on Saturday after all.

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