Pit lane to points! Lawson upgraded in Mexico after rival penalised

Liam Lawson has completed arguably the best drive of his Formula One career, going from pit lane to the points in a chaotic Mexican Grand Prix, on a weekend where Kimi Antonelli was crowned world champion.

The Kiwi had crossed the line ninth, but was upgraded one place to eighth after a late penalty for McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who had finished seventh.

After his starting position was wiped out for a technical infringement after qualifying, Lawson stayed out of trouble in a chaotic race that saw one red and two yellow flags to bring his car home for his 14th points finish of the year.

Lawson also faced a nervy wait after a late investigation for an incident with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, however no action was taken by the stewards.

While he has achieved higher finishes in his career across Racing Bulls and Red Bull, none have forced Lawson to show as much character as he did at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Across 71 laps, no driver made up more places than Lawson, as he battled with a two-stop strategy and energy-deployment struggles.

Eighth was a just reward for Lawson after an otherwise difficult weekend. Aside from his disqualification after setting the eighth-fastest time in qualifying, the Kiwi was also hit with a one-place grid penalty after a practice clash with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

The four points won also further extends Lawson’s run as Formula One’s “best of the rest” – the top driver outside the sport’s top four teams – moving further clear of Gasly to hold ninth in the championship.

Ninth was a just reward for Lawson after an otherwise difficult weekend. Photo / AFP

What’s more, with his future yet to be confirmed – and with 2027 rival Nikola Tsolov having impressed in his first taste of a race weekend by taking the Kiwi’s car on Saturday morning (NZT) – Lawson continues to state his case as to why he deserves to remain on the grid next season.

The result also sees Lawson’s wretched run in Mexico come to an end, after contact with then-Williams driver Franco Colapinto ruined his race in 2024, before being forced to retire last year after being taken out by Williams’ Carlos Sainz.

At the front of the field, Mercedes’ Antonelli created history by becoming the youngest driver to win the world championship. The 20-year-old only needed to finish ninth to see himself crowned champion, but crossed the line third for good measure.

Following his own punishment for the collision with Lawson, Verstappen drove excellently to go from fifth to win in Mexico for the sixth time in his career, and overtake the pair of Mercedes’ George Russell and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton to sit second in the championship.

Hamilton completed the podium in second place, having become the oldest driver in 44 years to take pole position 24 hours earlier.

The weekend didn’t fare as well for Lawson’s teammate Arvid Lindblad. After starting eighth in the Kiwi’s place, Lindblad was on course for a points finish of his own, but was forced to retire when he was hit by Piastri in the dying stages of the race.

Formula One continues in Brazil next week for the third race in as many weeks to complete the second of three triple headers to end the season.

Starting in pit lane with a new power unit, Lawson avoided any trouble down the long first straight into turn one, and made up one place when Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar left the track after spinning on the opening lap.

And with the pace advantage a fresh engine gave him, Lawson quickly made short work of the backmarkers. By lap six, he’d climbed from last to 18th, getting the better of both Aston Martins and the Cadillac of Valtteri Bottas.

Lance Stroll stopping on track on lap seven triggered a virtual safety car to halt Lawson’s charge, before the Kiwi strangely pitted to fit a set of soft tyres on lap 13 once the green flags had been waved. That saw him emerge in 20th with a 15-second gap to Bottas in front.

With the fresher tyres, Lawson climbed up to 13th just after the halfway point, but was frustrated by being stuck behind Nico Hulkenberg and a target for Audi teammate Gabriel Bortoleto.

Lawson continues to state his case as to why he deserves to remain on the grid next season. Photo / Red Bull

But on lap 44, one after Lawson had stopped for the final time, Bottas left the track at turn one after his suspension broke, and triggered a red flag to repair the barriers destroyed by the impact. And after a delay of nearly 40 minutes, the restart gave Lawson a chance to fight his way into a share of the points in the remaining 25 laps.

Resuming in 15th on a cooling track, Lawson did excellently at the restart to climb four places and move to 11th as the drivers got through turn one, with less than a second to both Alpines ahead of him in ninth and 10th.

As Franco Colapinto didn’t allow Alpine teammate Gasly to pull away, Lawson was able to keep within a second of the car ahead, but was forced to be patient for any opportunity to overtake.

That opportunity to make up a place came from his teammate, though, as Lindblad’s exit triggered a yellow flag that saw Lawson get around Gasly from the resumption, after the Alpine left the track at turn one.

Mexican Grand Prix finishing order

1. Max Verstappen - Red Bull

2. Lewis Hamilton - Ferrari

3. Kimi Antonelli - Mercedes

4. Charles Leclerc - Ferrari

5. Lando Norris - McLaren

6. George Russell - Mercedes

7. Franco Colapinto - Alpine

8. Liam Lawson - Racing Bulls

9. Pierre Gasly - Alpine

10. Gabriel Bortoleto - Audi

11. Isack Hadjar - Red Bull

12. Alex Albon - Williams

13. Ryo Hirakawa - Haas

14. Carlos Sainz - Williams

15. Oscar Piastri - McLaren

16. Nico Hulkenberg - Audi

17. Sergio Perez - Cadillac

Did not finish: Arvid Lindblad - Racing Bulls, Ollie Bearman - Haas, Valtteri Bottas - Cadillac, Lance Stroll - Aston Martin, Fernando Alonso - Aston Martin

Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.