Formula 1, Sportrik Media - Liam Lawson has clarified the short radio message he delivered to his team after a close moment with team-mate Arvid Lindblad during the early stages of the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai International Circuit. The RB F1 Team driver downplayed the incident, insisting there was no internal tension following the on-track exchange.
At the time of the incident, Lindblad was running directly behind Lawson on a different tyre strategy. The British rookie was using the harder compound tyre and aiming to extend his stint longer than Lawson, who was running on medium tyres.
As Lawson’s pace began to drop, Lindblad attempted an overtake at the hairpin corner. However, the move did not go according to plan as Lindblad locked up under braking and ran wide, allowing Lawson to immediately regain the position.
During the moment, Lawson transmitted a brief message over team radio simply saying “Guys…”, before pitting on the following lap. Shortly afterwards, Lindblad successfully passed him on track.
Lawson later explained that the radio message was not intended to request that the team keep Lindblad behind him, but rather to signal his intention to pit.
“No, I was trying to box,” Lawson told media including RacingNews365.
“He had a train of cars behind him, and if he got past me then I was probably going to be passed by two or three more cars as well.”
Because of that situation, Lawson aimed to minimise the time loss before making his pit stop. The decision ultimately worked in his favour as he entered the pits just before a safety car was deployed.
After switching tyres, Lawson completed the remainder of the race on a set of hard tyres and secured a seventh-place finish, matching the result he achieved in the sprint race earlier in the weekend.
The New Zealand driver admitted the result came as a positive surprise, particularly given the lack of confidence he felt in the car’s pace throughout the weekend in Shanghai.
“For the speed we had this weekend, it’s very, very positive,” Lawson said.
“We definitely didn’t expect to have two points finishes after sprint qualifying and qualifying, especially after Saturday.”
Lawson acknowledged that the team did not show the same level of performance seen earlier in the season.
“In Melbourne we were quite quick, but this weekend we definitely weren’t. We managed to salvage a great result from what was honestly a pretty average weekend in terms of pace.”
Looking ahead, Lawson remains optimistic that once the team improves its overall speed, RB could become a stronger contender in the midfield battles as the 2026 Formula 1 season progresses.
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