How Lawson is fighting for a seat at “independent” Racing Bulls: He obligingly let Verstappen through in Sao Paulo

Every few months, Formula 1 returns to the question of whether it is right for one owner to control two teams. Red Bull tends to insist that its teams operate independently on track, but the Sao Paulo Grand Prix showed the exact opposite. Liam Lawson obligingly moved aside for Max Verstappen.

We have seen Racing Bulls drivers help the parent Red Bull team on numerous occasions in the past. One example is the controversy Daniel Ricciardo caused in Singapore in 2024. Although the Australian was well outside the top 10 and could not score the point for the fastest lap, he fitted fresh tyres towards the end and ensured that Verstappen’s title rival Lando Norris would not get it either.

Something similar happened at this year’s Miami Grand Prix. After contact with Max Verstappen, Liam Lawson was ordered to give the Dutchman the position, even though the New Zealander was convinced he had done nothing wrong. At the Canadian Grand Prix, Lawson revealed that the team had privately acknowledged its mistake and that Verstappen had been to blame for the collision. It was a mistake that happened to help Max Verstappen.

And while Red Bull could defend the previous incidents as a driver’s farewell to Formula 1 or an honest mistake in judging an on-track battle, no such defence holds up in Sao Paulo. Liam Lawson admitted it all over the radio.

After you, Max

Max Verstappen cut through the field like a hot knife through butter on Sunday. By the start of lap 11, he was already sixth, with Liam Lawson ahead of him. But he did not have to work hard to pass his Racing Bulls stablemate; Lawson slowed before Turn 4 and let Verstappen through as though following team orders.

“Yeah, I’ve let him go,” Liam Lawson admitted over the radio a few corners later, showing the Red Bull and Racing Bulls management his contrition for daring not to move aside for the four-time world champion during practice for the Mexican GP. Let us not forget that he still faces the threat from management of being sacked and replaced in the cockpit by Nikola Tsolov.

Before this “manoeuvre”, his race engineer had been giving him regular updates on the gap to Max Verstappen. Once he was close enough, Lawson slowed down. He lost 0.756 seconds in the first sector compared with his previous lap.

What would Red Bull say if their independent rivals did something similar? There is no need to speculate. Just remember the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix, after which Red Bull accused Kimi Antonelli of deliberately running off the track to help Lando Norris.