Lawson in the dark over F1 future

In brief

Lawson in the dark over F1 future

Lawson ran 10th early in yesterday’s race before being passed by potential future team mate Max Verstappen. His evening fell apart when his team failed to secure his front-left wheel at a pit stop and he received a 10-second stop-go penalty.

Asked afterwards whether he would return to F1 for his first full season next year, Lawson said: “I don’t know.

“I’ve given it everything, honestly, in every single session that I’ve driven the car,” said the RB driver. “So the decision is up to them. We’ll see.”

Gasly proud to end season without damage

Pierre Gasly said he was pleased to achieve three targets in the final race of the season, one of which was completing the season without incurring any damage.

“We had one target coming in Abu Dhabi, which was to secure that sixth in the constructors’ [championship],” he said. “The target was achieved.

“There was also the drivers’ championship with Nico [Hulkenberg], we were within two points coming into the last race, so we knew whoever would beat the other will get that 10th spot in the championship, which I managed to get in the end.

“And we kept our nose clean the entire season for no damage. So it was the three targets completed.”

Haas dejected after strong first lap

Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu admitted he was disappointed by the team’s slump in fortunes during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

“At the end of lap 1 it was looking great because Nico was in P5 and Kevin [Magnussen] had another amazing first lap from P14 to P7. Then unfortunately on Kevin’s first stop it was slow and that’s unfortunate as our pit crew has been amazing this year, but on this critical moment it meant Kevin came out in traffic, so that really compromised his race.

“As Kevin was stuck in traffic, we pitted him again and on his out-lap Bottas locked up and damaged Kevin’s car. He was very unlucky, I wanted Kevin to sign off well, as he’s done so much and he’s a part of the family, but we couldn’t finish with a points-scoring position with him.

“On Nico’s side he drove really well, but being in traffic all the time is really difficult. The execution of his one stop race was very good, and in normal circumstances coming home in P8 and scoring another four points would be a thing to celebrate, so I think we did the best job we could with Nico.”

The result meant Haas finished seventh in the constructors’ championship, one place behind rivals Alpine.

Links

Thoughts of a champion (Formula 2)

Gabriel Bortoleto: ‘We have been through a lot of things since the beginning, where we struggled a lot in Jeddah and Australia, where I had a very big crash. The team never gave up, I never gave up as well, and from that moment on, I think we deserved every single point we achieved in this championship. We had luck, but we also created our own luck, with our pace, with our work, the extra hours we did in the sim, all the extra hours we had, the late nights working on the simulations for new things to bring the car in the right window for the new tracks that were coming up for me and for the team as well. ‘

Jones to mark special Adelaide anniversary (Auto Action)

‘Forty years on from the first Adelaide Formula 1 grand prix, (Alan) Jones will drive the same F1 car on the same streets.’

We always endeavour to credit original sources. Got a tip for a link relating to single-seater motorsport? Please send it to us via the contact form.

| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Myles Woerner, Samuel Tatipamula and Julien!

On this day in motorsport

• Born on this day in 1928: Andre Milhoux, a sports car racer who made his sole Formula 1 start in the 1956 German Grand Prix as a substitute for Andre Pilette when the Gordini driver was injured during practice.