Friendly fire
It’s been dubbed the unofficial first rule of motorsport: don’t crash into your teammate. But on lap 36 of 51, as the race resumed from a safety car interruption, Arvid Lindblad broke that by barrelling into Lawson at turn one.
Lawson, who was 12th at the time, suffered damage to his floor on the left-hand side of his car and dropped down the order after he pitted to fit new tyres. And while he was able to fight back up the field to claim 12th, it could have been much more when considering Lindblad went from 15th to seventh.
Liam Lawson at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Photo / Getty Images
Lindblad was cleared of any wrongdoing, with officials going easy on the Brit considering the incident occurred at a restart. However, he should consider himself very lucky to walk away with his record clean.
Alpine’s Franco Colapinto has been handed a five-place grid penalty for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia next week, after the Argentine triggered the initial incident that took out his French teammate Pierre Gasly as well as McLaren’s reigning champion, the Brit Lando Norris, and triggered the chain reaction that saw Lindblad’s error.
To his credit, Lindblad apologised to Lawson immediately after the race, interrupting the Kiwi’s media session to do so.
“It was an absolute mess, the restart,” he said afterwards. “Everyone was moving a lot, [it was] a bit of a shame to hit Liam.
“But if you see the incident, you can see there’s not much I could have done. I apologised to the team, there could have been two of us up there today.”
The wait begins
While Red Bull opened the weekend by announcing French driver Isack Hadjar would remain on the grid in 2027, just what happens to Lawson remains the biggest question left to answer.
Even if Lawson is one of the best-performing drivers on the grid, Racing Bulls’ status as a development pathway into Red Bull might have the biggest say on what way the team lean.
Liam Lawson drives at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Photo / SmartFrame
However, Hadjar’s place on the grid now being locked in effectively gives Red Bull a free hit for next year, without the need to groom another driver and leaving room for Racing Bulls to continue their current trajectory.
Speaking in between the free practice sessions on Thursday night (NZT), Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies, though, outlined that there is a clear timeframe in place for deciding which way Racing Bulls go.
“Nikola [Tsolov] is [having] a very, very strong [Formula Two] season,” he said. “He is leading the championship and we are very, very happy with the progress he’s been making, both on track and from what we see he’s doing with us in Milton Keynes in the simulator.
“We think we have time to make that decision on what’s going to happen for him next year. What matters to us is that we make sure that we put him in the right environment so that all his potential is coming out.
“His potential seems very high and we will make the decision in a few months on what his programme is for next year. For now, we let him concentrate on a rather busy weekend here with three races in Baku.”
Just who makes the call remains to be seen. Mekies has previously indicated that the decision will be left to Racing Bulls team boss Alan Permane, while sources have also told the Herald that Red Bull global managing director Oliver Mintzlaff will have a major say.
Tsolov’s struggles
Meanwhile, Tsolov’s own displays could also make that decision a lot easier.
Having been reported to have been guaranteed a seat for next year – albeit denied by Racing Bulls – the Bulgarian’s form of late hasn’t been that of a driver who belongs at the highest level just yet.
At one point, Tsolov comfortably led Formula Two. Now, with two rounds remaining – and no guarantees over their place on the calendar due to the conflict in the Middle East either – he’s dropped to second, having not won a race since Silverstone.
Since the summer break, the 19-year-old has managed a sole podium, coming in Baku’s second feature race, and lost control at the top of the championship to Ferrari junior Rafael Camara, who himself is widely understood to be the front-runner for a seat at Haas next year.
Nikola Tsolov has let the Formula Two championship lead slip through his fingers. Photo / Red Bull
For all his obvious potential, dealing with the pressure of closing in on a championship is clearly a work-on for Tsolov.
Herald sources have already indicated that Tsolov is in line to replace Ayumu Iwasa as Racing Bulls’ reserve driver, possibly in conjunction with a season in Japan’s Super Formula championship.
So while Red Bull would surely want him to claim the Formula Two title in his first season, failure to do so would also give the organisation the perfect cover to not change a thing at Racing Bulls.
A new challenger emerges
While Racing Bulls as a whole can look back with some pride on the weekend’s result, extending their lead over Alpine in the constructors championship to 15 points, there’s another reason to keep looking over their collective shoulder.
Having finished fifth in last year’s constructors championship, Williams’ drop-off has been one of the worst stories of the season. After years of underachievement, the team looked to be on the way up, with one of the most exciting driver pairings on the grid and an excellent team boss in James Vowles.
This year, though, they’ve not been anywhere near that same form. From missing out on the Barcelona pre-season shakedown after their car wasn’t ready, Williams then turned up in Melbourne for the season opener 20kg overweight.
Since then, they’ve struggled to find the balance needed to be competitive. However, a whopping 14 upgrades in Baku saw Williams back close to the levels they hit 12 months ago.
Sainz reaching Q3 marked the first time a Williams car had earned a start in the top 10 this year, before he was penalised.
Why does this matter, then? With the battle for fifth in the constructors championship now effectively a shootout between Racing Bulls and Alpine, Williams having a car and drivers capable of points finishes effectively leaves six drivers fighting for two places each week, considering the top four teams will more or less occupy the top eight.
And while Racing Bulls hold a 15-point lead in the race for fifth at the moment, there’s still plenty up for grabs between now and the end of the season.
Back to Sepang
With no time in between race weekends – with three triple-headers in a row to end the season – next week sees a return to Malaysia, admittedly still under the guise of the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Sepang is one of the great tracks in motorsport and was a staple on the Formula One calendar until 2017.
The wide nature of the circuit makes it great for overtaking and wheel-to-wheel racing – something that we’ve at times lacked this season.
While Lawson is yet to race there in Formula One, he does boast an excellent record in Malaysia as a junior. In 2018, when racing in the F3 Asian Championship, a then 16-year-old Lawson claimed three pole positions, three wins, and three fastest laps in what were his only three races of the season.
And at a time where Racing Bulls will want to lay down a marker that they’re this year’s best of the rest, here’s hoping Lawson’s history can translate to points on Malaysia’s return.
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.