Liam Lawson gifted Whittaker's chocolate by Kiwi Formula 1 fan
For Liam Lawson, few prizes could be as sweet as victory in this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.
But a fellow Kiwi's gift of several Whittaker's chocolate blocks must surely come close.
Todd Kirkwood, a Formula 1 fan, kept the blocks in his luggage for a month while on a two-month
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RNZ News
5 hours ago
- RNZ News
Liam Lawson 11th at Spanish Grand Prix; Piastri wins again
Liam Lawson at the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, 5 April, 2025. Photo: Photosport A frustrated Liam Lawson has narrowly finished outside the points at Formula One's Spanish Grand Prix, falling to an 11th place finish when the late cards didn't fall his way. 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. Liam Lawson. Photo: photosport 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." Australian F1 driver Oscar Piastri celebrating after winning the 2025 Miami Grand Prix. Photo: PHOTOSPORT 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. Dutch F1 driver Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing Photo: PHOTOSPORT 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. 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. Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin F1 Team at the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Photo: PHOTOSPORT 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
NZ Herald
7 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Formula 1 result: Liam Lawson narrowly misses points finish in chaotic end to Spanish Grand Prix
Liam Lawson narrowly missed a second points finish in as many weeks, in a chaotic finish to Formula One's Spanish Grand Prix. The Kiwi drove an aggressive race, but crossed the line in 11th place, as his Racing Bulls team opted to not pit behind a late safety car, which
Otago Daily Times
8 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Kiwi teen races to first podium
New Zealand's flying teens made their mark in the latest rounds of the UCI MTB World Series for Enduro and Downhill in the French Pyrenees resort of Loudenvielle-Peyragudes yesterday. Christchurch 18-year-old Winni Goldsbury scored her first podium, finishing third in the latest round of the Enduro World Series in her first season in elite competition. Across the mountain resort, a bunch of Kiwi gravity riders have qualified in the top 10 ahead of today's finals in the second round of downhill competition. They were led by two-time junior world championship medallist Sacha Earnest, 19, who was 10th fastest in qualifying in just her second start as an elite rider for her new Trek Factory pro team. This earned her a direct start in today's final on the exciting downhill track. The "old man" of the Kiwi contingent flying fast in Loudenvielle in qualifying was Rotorua's Tuhoto Ariki Pene, 24, who qualified for the finals in the elite men. After missing out in the first qualifying session, the MS Racing professional produced a stunning ride of 3min 17.313sec, up with the fastest of the day to top the second qualifying session. He was among the fastest 10 in the second qualifying to move through to today's final, along with Canterbury's Luke Wayman, 18, (Continental Atherton pro team) managing seventh fastest. However, Rotorua's Lachlan Stevens-McNab, exceptionally fast on the open section, made a mistake in the tight second part of the course. Goldsbury, 18, earned a breakthrough performance in the elite women's Enduro competition, in just her third start this season. She was super-fast throughout the competition, third after the opening stage, seventh in the second, fifth in the third, third in the penultimate stage and second fastest in the final stage. She finished just 0.40sec from second-placed Morgan Charre (France) with series leader Ella Conolly (GBR) winning by 26sec and jumps to seventh overall in the standings after three rounds. Nelson rider George Swift (Yeti Fox) was seventh to be ninth overall. Australian Daniel Booker took out the elite men's competition with Kiwi Charles Murray (Specialized Gravity) finishing eighth overall ahead of fellow Kiwis Joe Millington, the Yeti Development NZ rider from Rotorua, who was 11th after finishing third fastest and second fastest in the last two stages. Murray moved up one spot to seventh in the overall standings. — APL
