F1 Saudi Grand Prix: Red Bull star handed penalty in official FIA verdict

Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls, RB, Suzuka, Japan, 2025 — Photo: © IMAGO

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Red Bull star handed penalty in official FIA verdict at Saudi Grand Prix

Liam Lawson was slammed with a penalty

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Sunday 20 April 2025 20:20 Updated: 20:32

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Red Bull junior driver Liam Lawson was slammed with a 10-second time penalty at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The Racing Bulls star is still yet to score a point in the 2025 season, and was hit with a huge blow while running up in 11th at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

Lawson was adjudged to have left the track and gained an advantage while trying to pass Alpine's Jack Doohan, and picked up a penalty that would be added to his time at the end of the race.

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Racing Bulls would have been hoping for a double points-scoring finish, with Isack Hadjar running in the points and Lawson just a few seconds behind him in 11th at the time of the FIA announcement.

Lawson's misery continues

New Zealander Lawson is one of four drivers to have not picked up a single point throughout 2025, but there is arguably more pressure on Lawson to have done that, as he was racing with the main Red Bull team at the start of the season.

He raced alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull for the first two races of 2025, but was dropped following some miserable qualifying and race performances.

While Verstappen's new team-mate Yuki Tsunoda has not exactly set the world alight, he has had more consistent results, and has put his Red Bull closer to four-time champion Verstappen than Lawson had managed previously.

Lawson is slowly attempting to rebuild his confidence at Racing Bulls, but has been outscored by rookie team-mate Hadjar thus far across three grands prix.