Lawson matches career-best finish

Liam Lawson has matched his career-best Formula 1 finish after claiming fifth spot in the Monaco Grand Prix.

His Visa Cash App Racing Bulls teammate, Arvid Lindblad, also produced his best result to date and finished sixth.

The result on June 8 moves Lawson on to 26 points and up one place in the drivers’ standings to ninth. He is three points behind Red Bull Racing driver Isack Hadjar in eighth.

The New Zealander started 10th on the grid in Monaco and managed to avoid trouble in an incident-filled race, during which seven drivers failed to finish and a number of penalties were dished out after the chequered flag. 

“I’m very, very happy with today. It’s a great result for the team ending in P5 and P6, particularly given where we started at the beginning of the weekend,” says Lawson.

“Races can feel pretty unpredictable at the moment, with cars being forced to retire, so it’s important that we capitalise on those moments when they happen. 

“I honestly enjoyed the race so much and the team worked incredibly hard to deliver a quick car today, so I’m super grateful to be ending the weekend on a high.”

Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli secured his fifth win of the season in Monaco and extended his championship lead to 66 points over Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, who finished second. Hadjar was third.

Lawson’s result matches the fifth he claimed for Racing Bulls at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in September last year.

His and Lindblad’s latest efforts keep Racing Bulls sixth in the teams’ standings, closing the gap to fifth-placed Alpine to two points and extending their advantage over seventh-placed Haas to 18 points.

Allan Permane, Racing Bulls team principal, says he is extremely happy for everyone involved in the team after their latest performance.

“Firstly, the drivers didn’t put a foot wrong in the race, Arvid played the team game for us and Liam executed everything perfectly,” he adds.

“Double points and two career-best results is something they can be proud of. We had some issues with the cars with only half an hour to go and the mechanics performed fantastically getting the cars back together again in time.

“The engineers did an awesome job getting the car in the right window and Red Bull Ford Powertrains were incredible; we didn’t have to speak about the power unit this weekend and that’s a compliment to them, it just worked as and when needed it to and we were able to get just get on with the job.

“Finally, all of the people back at our bases in Milton Keynes and Faenza have delivered such an excellent car – without that we don’t have anything, it all starts from there. Everyone in the whole organisation did a stellar job today and we leave Monaco with a result that everyone in the team has earned.”

The championship now moves to Spain for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix on June 15.