Lawson “doing all the right things” despite Jeddah penalty setback

A strong qualifying performance saw Liam Lawson start P12 in Jeddah, but his hopes of securing his first points finish in 2025 were hindered by a ten-second penalty that dropped him to a twelfth-place finish at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

When the five lights went out, it wasn’t an ideal start for the Kiwi who lost out to Fernando Alonso and his teammate Isack Hadjar, however, the first-lap incident between Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly handed him two places back as the field rolled around the final turn for the Safety Car restart.

With his teammate leading an unmoving DRS train, it took Lawson until Lap 15 before he was able to muster up enough pace to pass the Aston Martin wedged between the RB driver, with the DRS-assisted move being made into Turn 1.

Five laps later, Lawson made his only pitstop, surrendering from the border of the points and rejoining in P15, armed with the hard compound tyre for the final 30 laps of the race.

The RB driver worked his way up to the rear of the sole-remaining Alpine, running four-tenths behind Jack Doohan before forging an attack into the first turn.

With the aid of DRS, the Kiwi got the jump on Doohan, however, he carried too much speed as he approached the apex of Turn 2, crossing into the run-off area and gaining the stewards’ attention.

Lawson was placed under investigation, with the stewards quickly coming to the conclusion that the RB driver went off track and gained an advantage, resulting in a harsh ten-second penalty.

Learning of the incoming penalty, Lawson was all the more motivated to continue his charge through the field, clawing his way towards Esteban Ocon over the next five laps.

The #30 passed the Haas driver down the main straight to move into P13 before lining up Nico Hulkenberg who made the Kiwi’s evening slightly easier when the Kick Sauber pulled into the pitlane for a late stop.

Lawson took the chequered flag in eleventh before his ten-second penalty dropping him just one position to P12, equalling his highest finishing result of the season.

“Today was tough and while we had very good pace throughout the race, we spent the majority of it with traffic no matter what we did,” Lawson said.

“The penalty obviously didn’t help and it’s a shame as this weekend has been the most comfortable I’ve felt in the car. 

“We’re doing all the right things and it all needs to come together now to get some points. 

“Isack made the most of his clean first stint and it’s great for the team to grab another point this weekend. 

“It’s very close in the midfield at the moment and we’ll try and work on improving this for Miami. 

“It’s a track I haven’t driven but am excited for. 

“We’ll keep pushing.”

Proud of his drivers’ efforts this weekend, RB Team Principal Laurent Mekies said there were many positives to take from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, including an additional point that adds to RB’s current total of eight points.

“A positive weekend here for us in Jeddah,” Mekies said. 

“We had a good race pace and came away with a point that we fought very hard for. 

“It’s a tricky track here with high-speed corners and the walls are very close. 

“Both Liam and Isack did a very good job, despite neither of them having raced on this track in an F1 car before. 

“They were only a few hundredths away from Q3 yesterday and we went into this race not knowing whether we were going to have enough race pace to fight with those in front of us, but you can see we gave it a good go. 

“Both of them have been very close in performance this weekend, pushing each other, which is exactly what we need for the future. 

“We know we have a lot more work to do and will always be pushing for more in Faenza, Milton Keynes and at the race track. 

“We go again in two weeks and will try our hardest once again in Miami.”

After a hectic start to his first full season in F1, Lawson can now enjoy a well-earned week off before making the trip to Miami across May 02-04— a Grand Prix set to bring the intensity once again as the second Sprint of the year.

Image: Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool.

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