Lawson and Hadjar: The fight that no one saw
In the final lap of the Brazilian Grand Prix, Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson of the Racing Bulls collided during their fight for a double points finish.
The two Racing Bulls teammates secured a return to points for a team that had been unable to score any in three previous weekends.
Lawson and Hadjar achieved a double top-10 finish in seventh and eighth at Interlagos despite coming into contact with each other on the final lap.
The Kiwi was able to make a one-stop strategy work, but at the cost of huge pressure in the dying moments from Hadjar and several other midfield cars.
Due to Max Verstappen’s fight with Kimi Antonelli for second, this battle didn't make the live broadcast.
Hadjar attempted an audacious move around the outside of Turn 1 of the last lap, but as he squeezed Lawson, they made wheel-to-wheel contact on the apex of the corner.
The Frenchman admitted he pushed Lawson too aggressively in the final lap scare.
He told Sky: “I pushed it a little too much, but honestly, it was very fun.
“He went on a one-stop and on the very last lap, I'm in his gearbox. I think you can't do any better than that. And I tried and I overdid it, kind of my mistake."
Lawson saw no issue
Lawson, who has been no stranger to close battling so far in his Formula 1 career, believed Hadjar was in the right to go for the move.
He said: “He was going for a move. It's the type of corner that curves in, and he's obviously trying to clear me before the braking, and I think just misjudged it.
"But we both came out of it, so it was okay, and more importantly, for the team to have two cars seventh and eighth is great today.”
"It's the last lap of a race. Honestly, as much as it's the ideal thing to do, there's no way that we're not going to race for a position like that. So I respect that obviously we're lucky that we came out of it but it's been a great weekend for the team."
The Racing Bulls, who lead the midfield battle for sixth in the Constructors' Championship, has extended their lead over rivals Aston Martin and Haas.
They sit on 82 points, ahead of Aston Martin in seventh on 72, and Haas in eighth on 70.
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