Liam Lawson 7th in F1 Sao Paulo GP with a single stop: “Very tricky at the end, but the strategy worked well”. Liam Lawson finishes seventh with a one-stop strategy at the São Paulo GP.

Two drivers in the top 10

For the first time since the Azerbaijan GP, Racing Bulls had both of its drivers finish in the points. The scenario mirrored Baku, where Liam Lawson once again came out on top in the internal team battle with Isack Hadjar. This time, Liam Lawson’s success was amplified by a strategy used by very few other drivers.

One pit stop

Liam Lawson finished the Brazilian GP in seventh place, the same position from which he started on the grid, completing just a single pit stop. The risk paid off for both the team and the driver, despite the late-race charge of competitors. “I’m super happy with the result,” Liam Lawson said after the race. “It was very tricky towards the end because we opted for a one-stop strategy. The tires were still in good shape at that point, but here, everything is very sensitive. If you push too hard in one corner, you pay for it in the next, so tire management was crucial. On top of that, I was managing energy to ensure I had enough power on the straights. The strategy worked well for us, so congratulations to the team: it was a huge effort to bring both cars into the points today.”

Ups and downs

The race was also generally positive for Isack Hadjar, who started from a higher grid position than his teammate. However, the French-Algerian struggled to complete overtakes during much of the race, finishing just behind Liam Lawson. Racing Bulls can still extend their lead over Aston Martin in the Constructors’ Championship and close in on Williams, both of whom scored zero points in Brazil. “I think we showed some good moments despite an overall challenging race. I struggled during the first stint, and in parts of the race, I got stuck in traffic and had to play it safe to limit damage. I started having more fun from mid-race onwards, and during the last laps, when I caught up to Liam, I pushed the car a bit too hard and made a mistake in trying to overtake him. But we brought home seventh and eighth, which is a solid points finish for the team. We’ll regroup and analyze what we could have done better before heading to the final triple-header in Las Vegas in two weeks.”