‘You saved me’ – F1 star thanks engineer as he narrowly avoids horror crash
Liam Lawson’s race engineer saved him from a potentially very serious incident at the Dutch Grand Prix.
The New Zealander hadn’t spotted a crashed-out Charles Leclerc at turn three, and was thankfully alerted to the stopped car over team radio.
“Double yellow where you are, double yellow where you are,” he was told by his engineer.
Lawson responded: “Oh my god, I couldn’t see him, you saved me there.”
Leclerc had swung across the track having lost a wheel in a collision with Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli.
The Ferrari star was caught by the young Italian having just exited the pitlane, and their collision saw him spin across the track at turn three before beaching on the inside of the corner.
Before that, though, his car was fully on the track with Lawson the next car to turn the corner.
Lawson’s radio showed how tense things were during an action-packed Sunday in the Netherlands, as he also sparked fury elsewhere.
The Racing Bulls driver was subject to a move around the outside from Carlos Sainz at turn one during a restart but shut off the Spaniard and their cars collided, both picking up punctures.
Responding to the incident on team radio, Sainz said: “He’s just so stupid, my god.
“This guy, it’s always the same guy.”
Yet the race stewards eventually deemed Sainz at fault, handing him a ten-second penalty for the incident.
Sainz then vented his anger, saying: “Who? Who gets a penalty? ME? You are joking.
“You are joking. It is the most ridiculous decision of my life.”
He later added: “Make sure we talk to the marshals as soon as the race is over. I want to have a chat with them.”
Lawson ultimately ended one place ahead of Sainz in 12th, but his weekend was made worse by the performance of his teammate.
The other Racing Bulls car piloted by Isack Hadjar finished in third for a maiden podium.
The French rookie qualified fourth and miraculously held onto the position until it was turned into third by a Lando Norris retirement.
The title contender broke down in the closing stages with a suspected oil leak, handing a huge title advantage to teammate and race winner Oscar Piastri.
Between Piastri and Hadjar was home hero Max Verstappen, and the victor now has a substantial 32-point championship lead.
Pos Driver Team Race Time Laps Pits 1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:38:29.849 72 2 2 Max Verstappen Red Bull +1.271 72 2 3 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +3.233 72 2 4 George Russell Mercedes +5.654 72 2 5 Alexander Albon Williams +6.327 72 2 6 Oliver Bearman Haas +9.044 72 1 7 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +9.497 72 2 8 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +11.709 72 2 9 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +13.597 72 2 10 Esteban Ocon Haas +14.063 72 1 11 Franco Colapinto Alpine +14.511 72 3 12 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +17.063 72 3 13 Carlos Sainz Williams +17.376 72 4 14 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber +19.725 72 2 15 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +21.565 72 2 16 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +22.029 72 3 17 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +20 Laps 53 2 17 Pierre Gasly Alpine +23.629 72 1 Ret Lando Norris McLaren +8 Laps 64 2 Ret Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +50 Laps 22 0
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