Arvid Lindblad apologised to Liam Lawson and Racing Bulls after colliding with his team-mate at Turn 1 during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix restart, despite recovering to finish an impressive seventh in Baku. The rookie secured his third consecutive top-10 result and brought home another valuable six points for Racing Bulls on a chaotic afternoon.
The result also allowed the Faenza-based team to strengthen its position against Alpine in the Constructors’ Championship. Alpine paid a heavy price for Franco Colapinto’s mistake at the Safety Car restart, while Arvid Lindblad emerged from the disorder to continue his strong recent scoring run.
Arvid Lindblad scores again for Racing Bulls in Baku
Arvid Lindblad crossed the finish line seventh after a strong recovery drive, extending his run of consecutive points finishes to three Grands Prix.
It was an important result for Racing Bulls after a difficult weekend, particularly because the battle with Alpine remains significant in the midfield Constructors’ Championship fight. Franco Colapinto’s mistake at the restart proved particularly costly for Alpine, while Arvid Lindblad converted the opportunity into another useful points haul.
The official Azerbaijan Grand Prix classification placed Arvid Lindblad seventh, immediately ahead of Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman, while Liam Lawson eventually finished 12th after his race was compromised by the contact with his team-mate.
Lindblad apologises to Liam Lawson for Turn 1 collision
Despite the positive result, Arvid Lindblad was quick to acknowledge the incident involving Liam Lawson during the restart.
In the general confusion created by Franco Colapinto’s mistake, Arvid Lindblad was unable to avoid contact with the New Zealander’s Racing Bulls, sending Liam Lawson into a spin.
“First of all, I want to apologise to Liam and the team for the incident at Turn 1 after the restart,” Arvid Lindblad said. “The situation was chaotic: the field had bunched up and we were all on the limit, so I think everyone braked a little too late.
“I was ready to attack Esteban, but he moved at the last moment and I had nowhere else to go. Apart from that, it was a good race for us. It was a difficult weekend, so bringing home some points is definitely a positive.
“A huge credit to the whole team for the work they did. We managed the race well and it was fun battling with the two Haas cars at the end. Now we’re looking forward to getting back on track over the next few weeks with Malaysia and Singapore.”
Lawson drops to 12th after Racing Bulls contact
The incident pushed Liam Lawson outside the top 10 and ultimately left him in 12th place. His car also sustained damage that prevented him from extracting the performance he wanted during the closing stages.
Liam Lawson nevertheless focused on the points scored by Racing Bulls and the team’s championship battle with Alpine.
“It wasn’t my best race today, but I’m happy that the team was able to score some valuable points and gain ground in the championship fight against Alpine,” Liam Lawson said.
“We struggled with race pace throughout the weekend, so that’s something we’ll work on as we continue through this triple-header. We got caught up in an incident at Turn 1 during the restart; that caused damage to the car and prevented us from pushing as much as we would have liked.
“We’ll learn from what happened today and we’ll be back on track next week, ready to fight again.”
Racing Bulls leaves Baku with valuable points
The contact between the two team-mates threatened what had been a promising opportunity for Racing Bulls, but Arvid Lindblad’s seventh place ensured the team still left Azerbaijan with useful points.
For the rookie, it was another encouraging result in a run that now includes three consecutive top-10 finishes. Liam Lawson, meanwhile, will look to respond in Malaysia after a race in which the Turn 1 damage prevented him from turning Racing Bulls’ potential into another double-points finish.
The focus now moves immediately to Sepang and then Singapore as the triple-header continues, with Racing Bulls aiming to consolidate the advantage it strengthened over Alpine in Baku.
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