Lawson earns first F1 points of season in Monaco
Liam Lawson has earned his first points of the Formula One season with eighth place in the Monaco Prix, won by Lando Norris.
Lawson receives four points, in his happiest outing of what has proved a difficult season.
He was cast in the role of support driver for Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar, who finished sixth. Lawson had started from nine on the grid, while Hadjar began from seventh place.
Lawson had to drive slowly to create space for Hadjar to pit safely twice and emerge in good position.
Their combined 12 points takes Racing Bulls to seventh in the constructors' championship, overtaking Aston Martin.
"It's great. It's not often you have a plan and it executes perfectly and today to have done that is that great," he said after the race.
"From a team side it's really cool to have two drivers in the points."
He said it was difficult to focus on driving tactically for Hadjar, instead of going flat out.
He said the team had prioritised Hadjar as the lead driver after qualifying.
Lawson's eighth placing is his best in Formula One racing. He had two ninth placings last year at São Paolo and in the United States, and finished ninth in Singapore in 2023.
Norris controlled the race from start to finish.
The McLaren driver took over the lead on the second-to-last lap after race leader and defending circuit champion Max Verstappen of the Netherlands was forced to take his second required pit stop on the penultimate lap, Reuters reported. The Red Bull driver's strategy to delay the stop didn't pay off as he finished a distant fourth.
In second was Monaco native and defending champion Charles Leclerc of Ferrari (+3.131 seconds back), with Oscar Piastri of McLaren (+3.658), the season's points leader, in third.
"It feels amazing. It's a long race, a long, grueling race," said Norris, a 25-year-old from England. "We could push for the whole race, and we won in Monaco. An amazing weekend with pole, with today. This is what we dream of, this is what I did dream of as a kid."
With his victory, Norris is now just three points behind Piastri in the driver standings, with Verstappen 25 points back.
Norris had Verstappen in front of him and Leclerc pushing from behind at the end, and Norris felt the pressure. Still, Leclerc could not overtake Norris.
Leclerc finished just a tenth of a second behind Norris in qualifying on Saturday, and the 27-year-old said that made all the difference in the race.
"At the end of the day, we lost the race yesterday. We should have done a better job, Lando did a better job and he deserves the win," Leclerc said. "It is above our expectations here, I thought we would struggle to be in the top 10 so it has been a good weekend. But I wish I'd won.
"Being born here, seeing all the Monegasque behind me is very special. It warms my heart to be at home and have so much support."
It was the second podium finish this season for Leclerc, whose best finish had been third in Saudi Arabia last month.
Piastri, a 24-year-old Australian, entered Sunday with four season victories.
"Obviously the win would have been better, but it has been a tricky weekend," he said. "Practice was messy all the way through. I got into qualifying with not a lot of confidence. I got close but not close enough, and you run around here where you started. A podium in Monaco -- it's not all bad.
"The margins are so fine, if this is a bad weekend, then it is not going too badly at all."
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton finished fifth.
- RNZ Sport/Reuters
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