Penalty and power woes spoil Lawson’s Sprint Saturday in Miami

Liam Lawson’s Sprint Saturday in Miami went from bad to worse as a post-race penalty for causing a collision stripping the Kiwi of his first points of the season, while an issue with an engine sensor in Qualifying turned a promising start into a frustrating downward spiral.

To kick off Saturday’s action-packed schedule, Lawson found himself lining up on the delayed standing start grid in P14.

When the lights went out, the Kiwi charged through the pack as he made up five places, setting into P9 after picking off his teammate in the process. 

With points only handed out to the top eight finishers, Lawson was tasked with making one more overtake to end his drought, however, a broken visor and a chasing Isack Hadjar put that mission in jeopardy.

On Lap 12, the Kiwi deemed the circuit conditions appropriate for slick tyres, with RB calling Lawson in for his only pitstop of the reduced 18 laps of running.

Upon return, however, it wasn’t the smooth ending to the second Sprint of the season that the #30 was hoping for.

“We had a good start in the Sprint race and I managed to make some overtakes on Lap 1,” Lawson said. 

“The pace was ok, but everyone was struggling with the track drying.”

Crossing the line in P7, Lawson managed to finish within the points for the first time in 2025, however, it was a temporary feat as he was handed a five-second time penalty imposed after the Sprint for causing a collision between himself and Fernando Alonso.

The FIA official documentation read: 

“Car 30 was attempting an overtake on the outside of Car 14 into Turn 11. 

“Although being able to pull fully alongside, the front axle of Car 30 was not ahead of the front axle of Car 14 at the apex as required per the Driving Standards Guidelines. Therefore Car 30 was not entitled to be given room at the exit. 

“Due to the layout of the track, the car which has the right to the racing line in Turn 11 also has the right to the racing line in Turn 12.

“Car 30 drove to the very edge of the track between Turns 11 and 12 and collided with Car 14 on the approach to Turn 12. 

“The Stewards determine that Car 30 was predominantly at fault and therefore consider a 5 seconds penalty to be appropriate taking into account the track conditions.”

Explaining his point of view, Lawson said the tag on the Aston Martin was unintentional.

“Alonso was obviously coming out on cold tyres and I stayed behind him and waited for DRS,” he explained.

“The contact with Alonso wasn’t intended and resulted in an unfortunate incident. 

“The penalty is a really tough one to take because other than that it was a great start to the weekend.”

Lawson entered the all-important Grand Prix Qualifying session in a haze as news had just broken regarding his post-Sprint penalty, remaining without a lap on the board for an extended period of time before rectifying that as Q1 drew closer to the halfway mark.

Lawson slotted himself into sixth fastest after a solid first Q1 attempt, with his time of 1:27.444s leaving him nestled amongst the tightest margins of the order. 

On his final run, the Kiwi failed to improve with poor first and final sectors washing away any gains he made in the middle sector, however, fortune favoured the bold Kiwi who just managed to advance to Q2 in P14.

Exiting the pitlane with the bulk of the grid, it wasn’t an ideal tour of the Miami International Autodrome from Lawson who remained at the bottom of the order, 1.4 seconds behind the benchmark and four-tenths behind the lap ahead.

When he returned to the circuit, Lawson had just 5.4km to redeem himself but was unable to do so after succumbing to an issue with his battery.

“We do have a problem [with the battery], clearly, and that’s what we tried to manage the whole session,” Lawson’s race engineer informed, comforting the frustrated #30.

“When it came to Qualifying, we clearly had a battery issue during the session which meant the car wasn’t getting full power,” Lawson said.

“It’s a shame because we found a good step in the car today. 

“We’re hopeful that we can fix the issue before tomorrow and the weather is definitely going to impact expectations for the race.”

As a result, Lawson will start the Miami Grand Prix from P15, aiming to pick off his rookie neighbours in a start that mirrors his opening lap of the Sprint.

Championing Lawson’s effort despite his “vital” loss, Chief Technical Officer Tim Goss remains confident in RB to bounce back during the 57-lap main event.

“Our challenge for Qualifying today was to build on the promising performance we demonstrated in Sprint Qualifying,” Goss said.

“We knew there was more to come from the car, and with the support of the factory, we took the decision to further evolve the setup following the Sprint. 

“The car worked well. Our high-speed performance is a strength, although we still feel there is more to come from the low-speed section here in Miami. 

“Qualifying didn’t go entirely to plan. 

“Liam suffered an issue with an engine sensor which sapped vital performance on the final run to the line. 

“He did a superb job to get through to Q2 despite this handicap but could progress no further.

“It is incredibly tight and we know that we have every opportunity to grab some points tomorrow.”

Lights out for what is forecast to be a wet weather-impacted Miami Grand Prix will take place at 06:00 AEST.

Image: Mark Thompson/Getty Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

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