Liam Lawson finishes ninth at United States Grand Prix

Lawson secures points amid future uncertainty

Liam Lawson finished ninth at the United States Grand Prix to extend his lead as the best of the rest in the Drivers’ Championship to 35 points ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly. The New Zealander finished eight seconds ahead of Gasly after navigating a cockpit alarm malfunction that occurred when Valtteri Bottas retired his Cadillac on the back straight with four laps remaining. While Lawson focuses on scoring points, Helmut Marko suggests the decision between Lawson and Nikola Tsolov at Racing Bulls may favor the latter. Marko stated that the team looks for drivers who can win a Grand Prix and noted that the decision should go in Tsolov’s favour in keeping with the philosophy of making stars. Lawson told F1 TV that he has "no idea" when an announcement regarding his future might arrive and said, "I’m not even really thinking about it. I’m just pressing on and enjoying the races, honestly." Lawson has 77 points after 18 races this season. There is uncertainty regarding the 2027 grid as Valtteri Bottas faces an uncertain future at Cadillac and Oliver Bearman may not keep his seat.

Software bug causes cockpit distraction

A software malfunction during the Virtual Safety Car period caused Lawson distraction while he maintained a pace six seconds faster than the required delta. Lawson explained that the alarm, designed to warn drivers of exceeding the delta time, continued to beep loudly even though he had already slowed down. "I thought I was illegal, and I’m slowing right down, and then I look down, and I’m like six seconds positive, so I’m good. But the thing’s beeping in my ear, so [it was] extremely distracting," Lawson said. He suggested the issue might be a bug that every driver experienced during the race. This ninth place finish in Austin marks Lawson’s 13th points haul this year. Lawson also supported the Racing Bulls decision to save his fresh tyres for Sunday, which meant he did not set a lap time in Q3. He finished the race behind George Russell and the McLaren teammates, though he did not participate in their battle for positions. The alarm issue forced him to slow down further to ensure he did not violate the rules, despite his dashboard showing he was safely within the permitted time.

Red Bull struggles with communication and strategy

Red Bull failed to maximize the weekend as Max Verstappen finished third behind Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc. Verstappen described the communication problems with his team as a "disaster" after repeated radio dropouts throughout the race. The Dutchman also criticized the two-stop strategy involving soft-soft-medium tyres which he claimed the team did not agree to beforehand. He also noted that a slow pit stop hindered his performance when fighting for second place. Hart, who took over race engineering duties for Verstappen in Austin, caused confusion when he identified the driver ahead of Verstappen as George Russell instead of Lando Norris. He also instructed Verstappen to select an engine setting that the driver was already using, to which Verstappen replied, "I am in engine 3 position 11." Mekies defended Hart, stating the engineer picked a complicated race for his debut, though the team will alternate Hart and Gianpiero Lambiase until the end of the season. The team now heads to the high-altitude Circuit Hermanos Rodriguez for the Mexico City Grand Prix before traveling to Brazil and Las Vegas.