Liam Lawson receives PENALTY on F1 debut in CHAOTIC Dutch Grand Prix

Liam Lawson, Red Bull Junior — Photo: © LAT Images

Dutch Grand Prix

Lawson receives PENALTY on F1 debut in CHAOTIC Dutch Grand Prix

The F1 rookie had a nightmare start at the rain-impacted Dutch Grand Prix

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Sunday 27 August 2023 15:25 Updated: 21:17

Liam Lawson has been given a 10-second time penalty on his Formula 1 debut at the Dutch Grand Prix.

The AlphaTauri driver is taking part in his first race following Daniel Ricciardo's injury in FP2 on Friday, but it hasn't got off to the best of starts.

In all of the chaos of the opening few laps, with a heavy downpour causing a huge mass of pitstops, Lawson has been penalised for impeding Kevin Magnussen in the pit-lane.

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That penalty pushed him down into 18th after what had been a promising start that had seen him up in 12th.

Fast-tracked into F1

Before the race, Lawson had said he was hoping for a clean race, unfortunately that hope has been quashed within the first few laps at Zandvoort.

He will be using the opportunity of the next few races to no doubt try and impress Helmut Marko, head of Red Bull's young driver programme, as well as his AlphaTauri team, with the hope of a full-time seat in 2024.

The New Zealander was racing in Super Formula just last weekend and has now been thrown into the deep-end in the pinnacle of motorsport.

Speaking to the Sky F1 crew before the race, Lawson said it had been a whirlwind first few days in the job.

“Definitely is, and it’s a lot faster than what was already quite fast yesterday," he said. "Obviously it’s going to be a challenging day, especially the first part of the race. I’m excited.

“Very briefly. I told them [family] I’d be driving and that was literally the last message I sent. I’ve just been focused on that. So, on Monday or tomorrow, I’ll catch up with them and everybody. It’s been a lot to go through in the last few days."