Liam Lawson has continued his strong run of form in Formula 1, securing another valuable points finish at the United States Grand Prix as Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli dominated at the Circuit of the Americas to move another step closer to the World Championship.
The Kiwi finished ninth after a relatively straightforward 56-lap race, adding two more points to his championship tally and strengthening Racing Bulls’ hold on fifth in the Constructors’ Championship.
It marked Lawson’s 13th points finish of the season, bringing his total to 77 and keeping him ninth in the Drivers’ Championship, 35 points clear of his nearest rival.
With his Formula 1 future still awaiting official confirmation, the 24-year-old delivered another strong showing, remaining the highest-scoring driver outside the championship’s leading four teams.
Lawson started ninth after Racing Bulls decided not to send him out for a flying lap in Q3 on Saturday. With teammate Arvid Lindblad facing a five-place grid penalty, the team opted to preserve a fresh set of tyres for the Grand Prix, knowing Lawson would be promoted to ninth regardless.
That decision appeared to pay off, with Lawson praising his car’s performance after the race.
“It was a bit of a boring one, but we like boring,” his race engineer Alexandre Iliopoulos told him over the radio.
“But what a fast race car, man, holy s***, great job,” Lawson replied.
“It was so good to drive. At the start of the race there was a little bit of understeer, and then just so good the whole way.”
While the action unfolded at the front, Lawson spent much of the afternoon running comfortably inside the points, with enough pace to keep the midfield competition behind him but little opportunity to challenge those ahead.
The Kiwi made a clean getaway and held ninth through the opening corners, defending his position from Alpine’s Pierre Gasly as the field negotiated the tight uphill approach to Turn 1.
An early Virtual Safety Car briefly interrupted proceedings as marshals cleared debris from the circuit, but Lawson remained firmly in contention when racing resumed.
Behind him, Oliver Bearman and Gasly made contact, and the Haas driver later received a penalty for the incident. Their battle helped Lawson establish a gap of more than three seconds to the cars behind.
Although tyre degradation became a concern as the opening stint progressed, Lawson held his position while several front-runners made their first pit stops.
The different strategies briefly promoted him to seventh, although that was never likely to be his finishing position with several faster cars still to complete their stops.
When Gasly headed into the pits on Lap 26, Racing Bulls brought Lawson in one lap later, fitting a set of hard tyres that would take him to the finish.
He rejoined in 12th before moving back into the top ten as the remaining pit stops unfolded, passing into tenth when Fernando Alonso stopped on Lap 29 and returning to ninth when Nico Hulkenberg pitted the following lap.
With the pit-stop cycle complete, Lawson had built a comfortable advantage over Gasly, allowing him to focus on managing his tyres and bringing the car home.
There was little further drama for the Kiwi, who crossed the line ninth to match his result at the same circuit in 2024. The points were particularly important for Racing Bulls, extending their advantage over Alpine to 33 points in the battle for fifth in the Constructors’ Championship.
It was a less productive afternoon for teammate Lindblad, who started 14th following his engine penalty and finished 12th, narrowly missing out on the points. Antonelli dominates as championship celebrations put on hold
At the front, Antonelli delivered another commanding performance to claim his ninth Grand Prix win of the season, but he will have to wait until at least next weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix for a chance to secure his maiden Formula 1 World Championship.
The Mercedes driver entered Sunday’s race with a chance to wrap up the title early, but needed both teammate George Russell and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton to finish sufficiently far down the order.
Despite doing everything required of him by winning the race, Russell’s eighth-place finish and Hamilton’s fourth meant the championship battle would continue for another round. Antonelli now holds a 123-point advantage, with Hamilton 124 points behind.
Starting from pole, the Italian made an excellent getaway and immediately began building an advantage over the chasing pack.
Max Verstappen, chasing a third consecutive Grand Prix win, struggled off the line and briefly lost second to Charles Leclerc before recovering the position later in the opening lap.
However, the Red Bull driver had little answer for Antonelli’s pace, and Mercedes steadily pulled clear as the opening stint developed. Strategy soon became a major factor, with several leading drivers committing to two pit stops while Mercedes took a different approach.
Antonelli extended his opening stint on medium tyres before switching to the hard compound on Lap 24, putting himself in a position to complete the race without stopping again.
Verstappen and the Ferrari drivers took a more aggressive approach, with their extra stops creating several position changes as the race progressed.
Red Bull’s afternoon was further complicated by handling and technical complaints from both Verstappen and teammate Isack Hadjar, with the Dutchman describing his car as “undriveable” at one stage.
Despite those difficulties, Verstappen remained in the podium battle, while Leclerc emerged as Antonelli’s closest challenger in the closing stages.
McLaren’s Lando Norris also briefly looked set to take a podium after extending his stint on hard tyres, but the decision ultimately left him vulnerable to drivers on fresher rubber.
Verstappen swept past Norris on Lap 47 before Leclerc, and Hamilton also found their way through as the McLaren driver struggled with tyre wear. Leclerc then turned his attention to Verstappen, making a late move to take second and secure another runner-up finish for Ferrari.
Hamilton followed in fourth, while Norris settled for fifth after losing three positions in the closing stages.
A late Virtual Safety Car was required when Valtteri Bottas pulled his Cadillac off the circuit, but Antonelli had already established a substantial lead and remained comfortably in control.
He eventually crossed the line more than 13 seconds ahead of Leclerc, with Verstappen completing the podium and ending his two-race winning streak.
Hadjar finished sixth for Red Bull, ahead of Oscar Piastri in seventh and Russell in eighth, with Lawson and Gasly completing the top ten.
Hulkenberg narrowly missed out on points in 11th, followed by Lindblad and Gabriel Bortoleto, while Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso completed the next three positions.
Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz endured another disappointing afternoon for Williams, finishing 17th and 18th respectively, with Sergio Perez the final classified finisher.
Bottas, Bearman and Franco Colapinto retired from the race. For Lawson, the result was another positive weekend in a season that has seen him become a consistent points scorer for Racing Bulls.
Although ninth place lacked the excitement of some of his previous performances, the Kiwi once again delivered when it mattered, comfortably beating the team’s closest midfield rivals and continuing to contribute to its Constructors’ Championship campaign.
With just a week until the next race, Lawson will be looking to carry that momentum into Mexico, where Formula 1 returns to the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez for the second event of its final triple-header of the season.
Header Image: Simon Galloway/LAT Images via Red Bull Content Pool
