Lawson narrowly misses points in Spain
World championship leader Oscar Piastri extended his lead with a front-running win, holding off team-mate Lando Norris in a McLaren one-two finish.
New Zealand driver Lawson was 10th before his Racing Bulls team chose not to pit ahead of a late safety car stoppage, leaving him vulnerable to be passed by Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso.
It was a disheartening outcome for Lawson, who was coming off his first points of the season when placing eighth at last week's Monaco Grand Prix.
He had driven solidly throughout the week at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya before earning a 13th-placed start on the grid.
"From our side, it was a very strong race," Lawson said.
"Despite spending a lot of it in traffic, we had good speed and were overtaking cars, so it was working out.
"We ended up in the wrong position and missed the safety car line by half a second because everyone in front of us boxed.
"To be that close after all the work we did in the race is really unfortunate. As we look ahead to Canada, we'll take the positives of great race pace. Points are always the goal." Piastri wins again
Polesitter Piastri won by 2.471 seconds to go 10 points clear of Norris with his fifth victory in nine races, and McLaren's seventh of the season.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc completed the podium in a race that left the drama to the end with a late safety car deployment.
"It's a nice way to bounce back from Monaco. A superb weekend," said Piastri, who finished third last weekend in a race won from pole by Norris.
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen was left on the brink of a ban after a clash with Mercedes' George Russell.
Verstappen, who made four stops in total and ended up fighting on hard tyres against rivals with faster softs, collided with Leclerc and then twice with Russell after the safety car restart with six laps to go.
Stewards handed the four-times world champion a 10-second post-race penalty for the second collision with Russell, which appeared deliberate, dropping Verstappen from fifth on the road to 10th.
The Dutch driver was also given three penalty points to take his total tally to 11 for the 12 month period. One more before the end of June would incur a one-race ban.
Nico Rosberg, Mercedes 2016 world champion and now a pundit for Sky Sports television, said Verstappen should have been black-flagged for what looked to him like intentional retaliation for the earlier contact.
Another investigation into the clash with Leclerc drew no further action.
Russell finished fourth while Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg finished a surprising and morale-boosting fifth for the future Audi team after passing Ferrari's seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton on the penultimate lap.
Hamilton ended up sixth, Isack Hadjar seventh for Racing Bulls and Pierre Gasly eighth for Renault-owned Alpine to cap a solid weekend for the Frenchman celebrating soccer side Paris St Germain's Champions League win. First points
Ferrari moved up to second from fourth in the constructors' standings, now 197 points behind McLaren.
Verstappen remained third in the drivers' championship but now 49 points behind Piastri in what is becoming a McLaren battle.
Home hero Alonso scored his first points of the season in ninth for Aston Martin, who had only one car on the grid due to Lance Stroll's withdrawal through injury after Saturday's qualifying.
Piastri led away at the start with Verstappen seizing second from Norris while Hamilton and Leclerc moved up to fourth and fifth as Russell lost out.
Hamilton let Leclerc through on lap 10 of 66 after the two Ferraris had run nose to tail.
Norris took back second place from Verstappen on lap 13, the Dutch driver making no attempt to defend against the quicker McLaren and pitting in the next lap for fresh tyres.
Verstappen took the lead again on lap 23 after Piastri pitted, with Norris making his first stop on lap 21 and coming out behind the Red Bull, but that lasted only until Verstappen pitted for a second time on lap 30.
He came in for a third stop on lap 47 but Norris pitted the lap after to defend second place.
A safety car deployment on lap 55, after Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli beached his Mercedes in the gravel, bunched up the field and triggered a rash of stops.
The McLarens came in together for fresh tyres, double-stacking, and resumed ahead of Verstappen who had only hards available to him.
"That safety car just came at the wrong time," he said.
- Reuters/RNZ
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