Liam Lawson has issued an apology to Oscar Piastri for his role in the pair’s collision during the opening of Formula 1‘s Las Vegas Grand Prix.
The incident occurred when the Kiwi got ahead of the Australian’s McLaren at Turn 1 at lights out in the Nevada night race, taking fifth place.
Lawson was forced to swerve to avoid the Mercedes of George Russell, who himself was taking avoiding action from the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
In doing so, the Racing Bulls touched Piastri’s car, and despite getting ahead, Lawson suffered front wing damage that worsened as the lap wore on.
Piastri survived the tough, but Lawson’s race was effectively ended, ruining his chances of helping the Faenza-based squad to a double-points finish.
After the race, Piastri was asked if he sustained any damage, but he told media including Motorsport Week: “I don’t think there was any.
I think it was wheel-to-wheel from what it felt like. I was quite impressed I still had four wheels to be honest, but I don’t think there was any damage after that.
“Just took a while to get into a rhythm at the start and yeah, once I got some clean air, I felt like I got into a nice rhythm and the pace was good.
“But outside of that, it was a bit more difficult than I had hoped.”
Piastri indicated that he would be seeking to have a conversation about the incident at the drivers’ briefing at this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix.
“Ambitious, that’s for sure, but apparently okay,” he remarked. “So obviously I think we’ll probably be talking about that one next week in our meeting.”
Lawson admits he should’ve braked earlier to avoid Piastri collision
Lawson explained how the low-grip circuit caused him to lose momentum, leading to the touch with Piastri’s McLaren.
“It was very slippery and I was heading towards the back of whoever was in front of me,” Lawson told media including Motorsport Week.
“So basically, I just had to try to avoid it, so big apologies to the team and to Oscar as well, I didn’t mean to run into him.
“It is a shame to have two cars start in the points and not finish in the points.
“I haven’t seen the incident, I just know that I made contact, and so apologies to Oscar and to our guys as I wasn’t trying to overtake or anything like that.
“Obviously, in hindsight, I would just brake a bit earlier and try to get through Turn 1.”
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