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That Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend could hardly have gone any better for Liam Lawson. Racing Bulls machine rocketing past Lando Norris on the opening lap to run in second place? Absolutely wild, and something nobody could have predicted.
Sure, finishing higher up than P7 would have been nice, but holding off the cars from the four top teams on a damp track was a tall order. A superb P5 in Saturday’s Qualifying set up the charge. Penalties for others bumped him to third on the grid, and from there a brilliant start coupled with a poor launch by Norris allowed him to slot into second behind only Kimi Antonelli.
Obviously, I would love it if it was more from a team! But at the moment, I'm just trying to enjoy driving the car because with everything else going on, I don't really know what else I'm meant to do.
Those intermediate tyres soon fell off a cliff, though. Lawson dropped back behind Norris, Isack Hadjar, George Russell, and Max Verstappen as graining set in by halfway through Lap 1. "We started to pull back. We were damaging our tyre, I think, quite a lot more than them," Lawson said. As the track dried and the race wore on, he also lost ground to Oscar Piastri and a recovering Russell.
When rain returned in the closing laps, a resurgent Charles Leclerc arrived on the scene, dishing out a friendly nudge at Turn 12 that cost Lawson the place on the road. "I think it was his wing that hit my tyre, so I think we got really lucky," Lawson said, comparing it to Leclerc's old GP2 move on Albon in Abu Dhabi. The stewards stepped in, handing Leclerc a penalty that handed Lawson back P7 from his P8 finish at the flag.
With the points safely in the bag, Racing Bulls extended their healthy advantage over Alpine in the battle for P5. But Lawson isn't taking anything for granted. "We've seen it before. We had it here a few years ago with Alpine, so we're not going to settle until it's done," he noted, already casting an eye toward the long straights of the Las Vegas Grand Prix where he expects Alpine to fly.
Meanwhile, the driver without a confirmed seat for next season continues to wait on a decision from team boss Alan Permane regarding the 2027 Racing Bulls line-up, with Nikola Tsolov waiting in the wings. "I appreciate all the support I've seen over the last few weeks," Lawson said. "Obviously, I would love it if it was more from a team! But at the moment, I'm just trying to enjoy driving the car because with everything else going on, I don't really know what else I'm meant to do."
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