The 2025 F1 Dutch GP was less than ideal for Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson. After starting Sunday’s race from P8, the best result he could achieve was just outside of the points in P12. An incident between himself and Carlos Sainz on lap 27 effectively ruined his potential for points.
Despite the pain of his tough race, the celebrations went on as his teammate Isack Hadjar secured his maiden F1 podium. With this being the team’s first podium result since Pierre Gasly’s in Baku 2021, the hopes and morale are high for the team.
Incident with Carlos Sainz
Following one of three Safety Car restarts, Sainz and Lawson fought for P7. When the Spaniard attempted an overtake around the outside of turn 1, it didn’t go to plan. The two made contact, both believing the other to be at fault. Ultimately, it was ruled to be the Williams driver in the wrong.
The Spaniard was understandably not pleased with this, though while Lawson relates to his frustration, the rules are there for a reason. He is also not pleased with the incident, saying it ruined his day as wsll.
The Kiwi has been on the receiving end of his fair share of penalties this year. He acknowledges that they are simply something to learn from.
Lawson acknowledges just how risky he believed the move to be. With that portion of the track known to be slippery, in combination with cold tyres, he knows this move wasn’t ideal. A small snap of oversteer from the Racing Bulls driver was a big factor in it.
“I’m sure he’s not. Obviously, I’m not stoked either. Ruined my day. It’s something that’s… The rules are written as they are. We know how they’re written. I’ve been receiving it this year as well, where I was going for an overtake and thought that I should be given space, and I wasn’t, and I got a penalty.
“So, it’s something that we learn from. We all know this. So, it’s that one on a restart. It’s super slippery, cold tyres, and it’s fine to go for the move, but it’s just risky, and yeah, we made contact, which is not ideal, but that’s why he got a penalty.”
A boosting result for the team
Despite Lawson’s tough race, his teammate had his best race of the season. After maintaining his great starting position, and getting a late move up in position, Hadjar secured his first F1 podium. To make it better, this was the team’s first podium since Baku 2021.
While it must be bittersweet for Lawson, such a strong result has been a confidence boost for the whole team. With the car being strong recently, this has proven to Lawson’s side of the garage that strong results are possible.
Although it is a great shame that both cars couldn’t finish in the points, the confidence boost will be key. Lawson expressed the hopes that the team can carry this momentum into Monza.
“Yeah, look, for the team, it’s very, very cool. For Isack and his side, they’ve done a very, very good job this weekend, and the car’s been very strong recently, so it’s great to show the performance of it today. It’s very, very cool for Isack as well. So, yeah, it’s a shame we couldn’t bring both cars home on the points, but obviously very, very positive for the team, and hopefully we can take that forward for the next few races.”
The potential for points
Prior to the incident, Lawson was on track to secure a decent points haul. He describes his first stint as consistent, and the car as “very, very strong”. This gave him major hope he would remain in the points. He acknowledges that a restart is aggressive and the perfect time to make position, but unfortunately this time, the risk outweighed the payout.
“Yeah, I mean, we were, I guess, behind, probably, George, before everything happened, and, you know, the car’s been very, very strong, so there’s no reason why we wouldn’t have come home with very strong points today. We were just consistent in the first stint, sort of managing, and, yeah, a restart’s always aggressive and tough, and, obviously, it’s a time to make, it’s time for opportunities, but something that risky is, when we’re both in the points like that, it just sucks.”
An incident filled approach for Formula 1?
When informed that Carlos Sainz believed he took an incident-filled approach to Formula 1, Lawson promptly bit back. Despite the public’s thoughts of the Spaniard, Lawson wishes he would speak to him personally.
The Kiwi can acknowledge Sainz’s frustration, as he does not always feel deserving of the penalties has receives. On the other hand, he knows that if it truly was his fault, he would have received the penalty instead of Sainz.
“I think he was overtaking me today, and I also think he got a penalty today, so he can make all the comments in the world he likes. I wish he’d just come and talk to me about it, rather than telling everybody else, but, you know, if it was my fault, I would have got a penalty, and I understand his frustration, it’s, you know, we don’t want to be in these situations, and, as I said, I’ve been on the receiving end as well, so, you know, it’s just the way the rules are written, and we all know that.”
The true meaning of a podium to Racing Bulls
A podium result is a massive deal for a team like Racing Bulls. Despite the hard work up until this point, this will motivate the team further—on both sides of the garage. Though the team has had a fairly good season, this result shows the true performance of the car.
Both Lawson and Hadjar have consistently entered Q3, with only six occasions with neither car in Q3. With Hadjar able to qualify right at the front of the grid, with quick drivers behind him, and still able to land on the podium, the team have proven their ability.
“It’s massive. You know, obviously we’re pushing every weekend, and something like this can be, give that a little bit more motivation to everybody to keep working hard, as they have been all year, and from our side, obviously it shows the performance in the car, and, you know, recently we’ve all been in Q3, both quite consistently recently, and always felt that our race pace was quite good, so to start in front of Isack, to start in front of some quick guys today, and stay in front, shows the race pace as well.”
