Formula 1 result: Liam Lawson taken out on opening lap of British Grand Prix at Silverstone
Having started 15th, Lawson was clipped at turn five by Haas' Esteban Ocon. Ocon clipped Lawson's rear left tyre, which sent the Racing
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RNZ News
8 hours ago
- RNZ News
Triumphs and setbacks for Kiwi motorsport drivers
Two wins and a first lap crash sums up how New Zealand drivers have fared in different motorsport categories around the world today. While Liam Lawson crashed out in Formula One, Scott Dixon continues to succeed in IndyCar and Shane van Gisbergen is on a winning streak in Nascar. Sports reporter Felicity Reid spoke to Lisa Owen. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
NZ Herald
14 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Formula 1: Liam Lawson's prospects after Silverstone crash
Here's what we learned at Silverstone: What is Lawson's Red Bull future? Since Lawson's early-season demotion, there has been no shortage of commentary around what his actual future looks like at Red Bull. No driver has ever been demoted and then returned to the senior team. Before Austria last week, it was common sentiment that Lawson was driving for his future, every week. However, that is almost certainly not the case. Since his return to Racing Bulls, Lawson has taken on a leadership role in terms of developing the car, and guiding teammate Isack Hadjar, as the team fights to be the best of the rest outside the top four. And with chaos in Red Bull's senior ranks, you'd be safe in betting its next driver is currently at Racing Bulls. Liam Lawson preparing to go into action at Silverstone. Photo / Red Bull Regardless of which of the two Racing Bulls drivers gets promoted, the other will almost certainly retain his seat, to avoid the risk of having two rookie drivers in one team, in a car expected to fight for points. With two races to go before the summer break, Red Bull will be far from finalising their driver line-ups for next season, as is the case with the 11 teams to feature on the 2026 grid. And even with performance-related clauses in his contract – the same for every Red Bull driver – to suggest Lawson is suddenly driving for his future every race is both naive and premature. Vaarwel Verstappen? It feels as though every race weekend, a Red Bull seat is closer to coming up for grabs. However, at Silverstone, it wasn't the seat anyone would have predicted. During the build-up to the British Grand Prix last week, Sky Italy reported Max Verstappen's management had held talks with Mercedes over a potential switch. And once all parties arrived at Silverstone, not once was it denied. Red Bull, Mercedes, and even Verstappen himself all had the opportunity to set the record straight, but didn't. If – and it's a huge if – Verstappen goes, Red Bull as an organisation will face the biggest rethink in its 20-year history. The team has gone past the point of parody in how it set itself up to accommodate Verstappen, even leaving a trail of teammates unable to be on par. Liam Lawson could benefit from a Max Verstappen move. Photo / Red Bull But the sport always moves on. Red Bull did the same when Sebastian Vettel left for Ferrari, and can do the same in 2026, should it eventuate. Who, though, could replace him? When the team axed Lawson after China this year, team principal and CEO Christian Horner made it clear that he still saw a future for Lawson in the organisation. Since then, he's slowly but surely started to rebuild his career, and results in Austria and Monaco prove there's still a proper driver for Red Bull to work with. Now it's up to Lawson to prove he's still Red Bull's man. Hadjar's woes continue In Lawson's favour, is the fact that his main competition has started to struggle. After a brilliant start to his rookie season, that Melbourne wipeout aside, Hadjar has fallen back down to Earth of late. From being comprehensively beaten in Austria, Hadjar looked to have started to bounce back by bettering Lawson in all three practice sessions, and outqualifying him at Silverstone. And when the Kiwi was taken out on lap one, everything was in Hadjar's favour to reclaim Racing Bulls' bragging rights. Then, disaster struck. With heavy rain falling, Hadjar couldn't save himself from running into the back of Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli at turn nine, in an incident that ended both drivers' race. While yes, Lawson also failed to finish, he wasn't at fault for his exit. Hadjar was at fault for his. Isack Hadjar had another troubled race. Photo / Red Bull Throughout his junior categories, Hadjar was known for being temperamental. We've yet to really see that in Formula One, but at 20 years old, it's understandable. The issue at play now, though, is whether or not it counts against Hadjar if Red Bull come knocking. He's already said this season he wouldn't feel ready, and in his teammate Lawson he can see the dangers of moving up too early. Still, he's 12 races into a career – one more than Lawson had when he was promoted – and will continue to grow. Tsunoda struggles, part six Depending on what happens with Verstappen, it might not just be one Red Bull seat going spare, either. The other half of the equation in Lawson's demotion, Yuki Tsunoda is now feeling the heat of what it means to be Verstappen's teammate. For the second week in a row, Tsunoda both finished last on track, and was handed a 10-second penalty, this time for tangling with Haas' Ollie Bearman. That's not to mention the fact that he was also largely responsible for Esteban Ocon being forced wide and taking Lawson out in the process. It's no secret, Tsunoda's future is all but finalised when engine supplier Honda, one of his primary backers, departs Red Bull for Aston Martin next year. Yuki Tsunoda was the last of the finishers at Silverstone. Photo / Red Bull What's more, Red Bull also gave Tsunoda's car to junior driver Arvid Lindblad for the first practice of the weekend, at his home grand prix. Last year, Red Bull did the same to Daniel Ricciardo in Japan for junior driver Ayumu Iwasa. In that instance, Ricciardo made way for Lawson before the end of the season. And while it's mandatory that teams give two practice sessions per season to a junior to complete, the timing of this one doesn't bode well for a driver already struggling. Nice guys finish third While McLaren rightly took a one-two finish at Silverstone, the real winner was Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg. The 37-year-old German had gone 238 races without standing on the podium, a record in Formula One. But after starting 19th, Hulkenberg survived the chaos to finally get that monkey off his back, as arguably the standout result of the season so far. Hulkenberg is renowned as one of the nicest drivers on the grid, evidenced by seeing the celebrations on his behalf from his rivals. One for the good guys, indeed. Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.
Otago Daily Times
18 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Crash ends Lawson's race on first lap
Liam Lawson's British Grand Prix was wrecked on the first lap. Lando Norris won his home grand prix for the first time, beating home McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri at a wet and chaotic Silverstone, but the news was all bad for Lawson after the New Zealand Racing Bulls driver was knocked out of the race at just the fifth corner. One of Lawson's tyres was clipped by Haas' Esteban Ocon, and that put him in a spin, spiralling him off the track. "Who the hell was that? I'm out. Who the hell was that?" Lawson, who had started from 15 on the grid, exclaimed on the team radio. The incident caused damage to the floor of his car, affecting the suspension and though he tried to continue, the damage was too great. "It's broken," he told his team. "We're broken. I'm pulling over.'' Once he had stopped, he said: "Whoever this Haas was next to me, oh dude, he just drove straight into the side of me.'' Ocon had been forced wide by Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda and clipped Lawson, who was on his outside. It was the fourth 'did not finish' for Lawson in this year's Formula 1 series, and comes just a week after his best finish, with his sixth placing at the Austrian Grand Prix. There was no sanction for Ocon over the incident, as he had been pushed wide by Tsunoda. Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar also failed to finish after driving into the back of Kimi Antonelli and crashing on lap 14. Speaking later, Lawson said: "We made the right call on tyres and had a strong start, so it's a shame we couldn't show the car's full potential. I think we had a really good car today, especially suited to the mixed conditions. It was a race full of opportunity, and we missed out on some big points." Lawson said he was looking forward to the Belgium Grand Prix at Spa on 28 July. Racing Bulls team principal Laurent Mekies said the most important thing was that Lawson and Hadjar were uninjured. "There is never a good day to lose both cars in crashes, but it is what it is; today was not a good day for that. What matters is that we have a strong car, strong drivers and we were fast again this weekend. "However, we do leave here with zero points and we will be working very hard to improve on the few things that have derailed our weekend. We will be regrouping, preparing for Spa and turning up trying to use the pace of the car that we are confident we have." Norris sheds tears of joy Norris shed tears of joy after his win, while Piastri made his unhappiness evident to all, Reuters reported. The Australian, now only eight points clear at the top of the championship, had looked a more likely winner - but a 10-second penalty for braking sharply behind the safety car while leading left Norris as the one celebrating. McLaren had indicated they could appeal the penalty, prompting Piastri to suggest over the radio that he and Norris switch places, but in the end the team told the drivers to continue racing for position. Norris was overcome by emotion as he took the chequered flag 6.8 seconds clear. "We did it, at home. Oh my god, we did it. It's beautiful!" he gasped over the radio. Piastri gave every impression of chewing on lemons as he was interviewed by 2009 world champion Jenson Button before the podium celebrations. "I'm not going to say much. I'll get myself in trouble. Well done to Nico. I think that's the highlight of the day," he said acidly of third-placed finisher Nico Hulkenberg. "Apparently you can't brake behind the safety car anymore. I did it for five laps before that." Hulkenberg's achievement also had the tears flowing, the German veteran making up 16 places to shed an unwanted record of the most races without a podium in Formula 1 history - Sunday being his first in 239 starts. "I don't think I can comprehend what we've just done," said the stunned German before wild pitlane celebrations with his teammates. "It feels good. It's been a long time coming, hasn't it? But I always knew we had it in us, I have it in me, somewhere." Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton finished fourth with Red Bull's Max Verstappen fifth after starting on pole position. Pierre Gasly was sixth for Alpine, Lance Stroll seventh for Aston Martin and Alex Albon eighth for Williams. Fernando Alonso gave Aston Martin a double points finish in ninth at their home race and George Russell bagged the final point for Mercedes. - RNZ Sport / Reuters
