Liam Lawson did something ‘categorically not allowed’ at Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Karun Chandhok says

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Liam Lawson missed out on a points finish in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix on Saturday. Agonisingly, the RB driver finished ninth – the highest fruitless position.

Lawson had qualified in a fine eighth place, the first time he’s reached the top 10 shoot-out since he returned for RB at the United States GP. But he wasn’t able to hold on for his third point of the campaign.

The 22-year-old would have hoped to challenge Alpine’s Pierre Gasly ahead of him, but instead ended up looking in his mirrors. Sergio Perez came charging through from 13th on the grid.

Perez eventually got past on lap 20, preventing RB from gaining ground on midfield rivals Haas in the process. Lawson did at least outperform his teammate Yuki Tsunoda comfortably.

Tsunoda finished the race a lowly 15th, more than 20 seconds behind Lawson in what was only a 24-lap race. That will improve his chances of a promotion for 2025.

Lawson is trying to take Perez’s seat alongside Max Verstappen. That would be a remarkable ascent given that he wasn’t on the grid at all at the start of the year.

Karun Chandhok says Liam Lawson was ‘on the edge’ in defence against Sergio Perez

Lawson and Perez collided at the Mexico City Grand Prix last weekend, leading to a spat between the two. Again, the New Zealander was the defensive driver as Perez tried to recover from a poor qualifying.

On that occasion, Lawson squeezed Perez on the inside before refusing to yield at the turn four and five chicane. While there was no penalty handed out, the clumsy contact put a race-ruining hole in the sidepod of the RB20.

Lawson had to apologise after showing Perez the middle finger later in the race. The Mexican described him as an ‘idiot’ over the team radio and laughed when the youngster sustained damage in a clash with Franco Colapinto.

In the Sao Paulo Grand Prix Sprint, commentator David Croft says Lawson very nearly made a ‘naughty’ move as he tried to block Perez off. Karun Chandhok pointed out that moving under braking, as he appeared to do into turn one, is ‘categorically not allowed’.

Croft said on Sky Sports F1: “That’s Liam Lawson who tried to cover it off very, very late and realised he wasn’t going to cover it off at all, and thought ‘no I better back out before we get a few problems here’. That could have been naughty, in the end it was okay.”

Chandhok added: “It was on the edge, wasn’t it? He moved under braking, which you’re categorically not allowed to do.”

How Liam Lawson reacted when Ted Kravitz called him ‘the bad boy of Red Bull’

One insider has claimed that Red Bull are planning a double driver change for Las Vegas. Lawson would jump up to the senior team at the expense of Perez, while Isack Hadjar would get a chance at RB.

Only a strong performance from the 34-year-old could delay the swap. And his showing in the Sprint was solid, even if it was perhaps made to look better by a weak qualifying.

Now, he must deliver in Grand Prix qualifying and the race itself. Otherwise rumours of an imminent departure will grow louder ahead of the three-week break.

His would-be replacement needs to show the team that he can be clean as well as fast. Ted Kravitz called Lawson the ‘bad boy of Red Bull’, which drew a ‘stonefaced’ reaction.