Liam Lawson – Fernando Alonso controversy continues: “He had a terrible race, maybe he got angry because of that”. Liam Lawson has already… made friends with Fernando Alonso.

The feud between Fernando Alonso and Liam Lawson
Not even a full GP since his return to Formula 1, and Liam Lawson has already… made friends with Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard from Aston Martin got furious over the maneuver by the New Zealander, who moved on the straight to defend his position, and then opened communication with the pit wall to call the young colleague an “idiot.” Later, the two were caught by photographers in a rather heated verbal exchange at the end of the Sprint Race, and in post-race interviews after the checkered flag, Fernando ironically explained that “his F1 career is at stake” to justify Liam’s borderline defense in the battle for 16th place. This altercation continued even after qualifying, with Fernando Alonso still quite upset with the Racing Bulls driver.

Liam Lawson’s perspective
“I don’t know what happened,” Liam Lawson said. “But he told me he would spit at me, and I believe he kept his word. He was very angry, and I’m not sure I understood why. We were fighting for 16th place, and I don’t get why he was so annoyed. I really don’t know, but that’s how it is. Hopefully, he can get over it and turn the page. I understand he had a terrible race, so maybe that’s why he got furious, but I think if I had done something wrong, I would have received a penalty. Rivalry between us? No, I don’t think there is a rivalry. We just had an incident during the race, but we can move past it and move on.” – he pointed out at the end of the Austin Sprint race.

Fernando Alonso strikes back
Fernando Alonso’s response didn’t take long: “It’s something between us. In the sprint race, we fought very hard. He fought very hard, in my opinion, but for 16th or 17th place. That’s fine; I can’t do anything about it. On the straight, we almost collided, like what happened with Lance Stroll two years ago at 300 kph or something like that. And then he cut into the corner, on the edge of the track… I don’t want to make a big deal out of it, but it was a big surprise not to see a penalty when someone slows down in corners 16 and 17 (the long right-hand corner in the third sector). As long as one of the two drivers lifts off the throttle, there’s never an incident, and that’s what happened. Here, everyone behaves as they want, but for me, it was totally unnecessary. That’s fine; the championship is long, 24 races, and sooner or later, we’ll meet again on track.” – the former Ferrari and McLaren driver concluded.