Liam Lawson Moves to Seventh as Charles Leclerc Gets Time Penalty
Liam Lawson questioned the legality of Charles Leclerc’s late overtake for seventh place during the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, comparing the maneuver to a controversial junior-category incident.
Late Race Contact at Turn 12
RacingNews365 reported that on lap 69 of 71 in wet conditions at Turn 12, Leclerc made contact with Lawson’s left-rear tyre while forcing his Ferrari up the hill.
Lawson said, It was a crazy race, honestly, I had a really good start, good grip into Turn 1 and made a place up and was thinking I might try and attack Kimi at some point in the lap.
Lawson said, Once the pace stabilised, they’re a lot quicker than us, and we started to fall back, we were damaging the tyre quite a lot more than them, and then the pace in the dry was okay.
Lawson finished eighth on the road. The New Zealander reported damage to his left-rear wheel rim during the scuffle, finishing 1.816s behind over the line.
FIA Penalizes Leclerc with Five-Second Time Penalty
The FIA stewards reviewed the incident and handed Leclerc a five-second time penalty for causing a collision, siding with Lawson’s assessment of the battle. Officials rejected Leclerc’s argument that the contact had no sporting consequence, concluding that the touch allowed the Ferrari driver to close the gap and execute the overtake.
The stewards said, While we acknowledge that the contact was minor, having examined the fight on track between the two cars, we conclude that Car 16 was able to get closer to and thereafter overtake Car 30 because of the contact.
The five-second penalty dropped Leclerc to eighth in the final classification. This promotion moved Lawson up to seventh place, marking his fifth consecutive points finish.
The 2017 GP2 Comparison
Lawson drew a direct parallel between the Brazilian Grand Prix incident and Leclerc’s historical driving style in junior formulae. Lawson’s post-race comments likened the move to Leclerc’s aggressive pass on Alexander Albon during the 2017 GP2 race in Abu Dhabi.
“I feel like it was exactly like his GP2 move in Abu Dhabi, like on Albon years ago,” Lawson told media outlets including RacingNews365. “He did the same kind of thing, so maybe it’s his specialty. I don’t know if it is legal or not, and we’ll go and review it, but it was a good battle overall.”
Lawson initially started third on the grid and climbed to second at the opening corner before struggling with tyre degradation in the changing weather conditions. Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli also received a five-second penalty but remained fifth, while Lawson secured valuable championship points following the post-race penalty application.
Disclaimer: The insights provided in this article are for informational and entertainment purposes only and do not constitute medical advice or sports betting recommendations.