Carlos Sainz ‘killed our race’ as Liam Lawson questions ‘awareness’ after Mexican GP clash
Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson have had one or two skirmishes
Liam Lawson, the Racing Bulls driver, says Carlos Sainz “killed our race” after an opening-lap collision with the Williams man forced him to retire from the Mexican Grand Prix.
And he has claimed Sainz has “got to have more awareness” having moved to cut the track without realising that Lawson was alongside him.
Liam Lawson questions Carlos Sainz ‘awareness’ after Mexican GP retirement
Sainz and Lawson made contact at the start of the race in Mexico, where the Williams driver moved to take to the run-off area at a crowded Turn 1.
The Spaniard seemingly did not realise that Lawson was alongside him at the moment he chose to take to the grass, with Sainz barging into the Racing Bulls car.
The heavy damage to Lawson’s floor and front wing, estimated to cost the New Zealander three seconds per lap, forced him to retire after just five laps.
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The latest incident between Sainz and Lawson came after the pair were embroiled in an incident at the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August, resulting in Sainz being hit with a 10-second penalty.
Sainz and his Williams team went on to win an appeal against the decision to penalise him, with two penalty points for causing a collision wiped from the former Ferrari driver’s disciplinary record.
Speaking after his early exit in Mexico, Lawson accused Sainz of failing to look left before committing to the decision to cut the track at the first corner.
He told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets: “I had a really good start and then basically there was a lot of space on the outside, so I filled the gap and a lot of guys were sliding at Turn 1.
“But I left plenty of space next to Carlos and I think he’s decided to cut the chicane, but hasn’t looked left. I’m right there and he’s just driven into the side of me.
“It’s something that just sucks. I think you’ve got to have more awareness, honestly.
“But it’s destroyed the side of our car and then we had to retire.”
Asked if he will seek talks with Sainz after the latest incident between the pair, Lawson added: “There’s not really much I can say.
“I don’t think he’s done it intentionally. I’m sure he’s not intentionally driven into me, but it’s just one of those things.
“I completely understand Turn 1 on the first lap. It’s chaotic.
“But we’re all trying to be aware of what’s going on and you can’t just decide to cut the chicane without looking to your left, because he’s hit me so hard that it’s just destroyed the whole side of the floor, broken my front wing and just killed our race.
“We were three seconds a lap off after that. It’s just one of those things, unfortunately.”
Addressing the Turn 1 incident, Sainz, who retired three laps from the end after spinning into the wall at the stadium section, added: “A race full of issues, compromised probably by the contact at the start.
“I think we were three or four into one and there was a big melee. I think we were three or four cars side by side, like always in Mexico. A tricky one.”
More on Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson from PlanetF1.com
The collision between Sainz and Lawson came almost exactly 12 months after the Racing Bulls driver first caught the ire of the then-Ferrari star for failing to respect blue flags at last year’s Mexican Grand Prix.
Sainz, who was en route to his final victory for Ferrari at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, was heard calling for a penalty for Lawson after he failed to move aside to be lapped.
In an amusing passage of team radio footage, Sainz was initially heard shouting: “Lawson!”
With Lawson still failing to move out of the way, he then bellowed: “LAW-SON! That should be a penalty. A penalty.”
Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock
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