Liam Lawson says Formula 1’s rules are to blame for the near-miss between him and Lewis Hamilton during practice in Baku.
The Racing Bulls driver caught Hamilton in the blind, flat-out turns 18 and 19 near the end of the lap.The stewards reprimanded Hamilton for impeding his rival. However Lawson said the situation is a consequence of F1’s rules.
Drivers on a flying lap in Baku will use their battery energy to accelerate out of turn 16 through the flat-out corners to the point Lawson encountered Hamilton. But those not pushing to set a lap time will not do the same, creating a significant speed difference between the two.
“It’s just unfortunately the way the regs are that you have a situation like this,” said Lawson. “Obviously it’s quite sketchy when you’re the car approaching – either one of us, to be honest.”
Lawson predicted it will be difficult for drivers to avoid similar situation unless something is changed before tomorrow’s sessions.
“There’s not really a lot you can do,” he said. “When you look at it, Lewis comes out of 16 and he’s full throttle, he’s got two or three seconds to me, which is normally plenty of gap, but the speed difference is just so big.
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“He’s not deploying anything. I’m deploying everything and so you have 60, 70, 80 kph speed difference, which is bad.
“The problem is, if he gets out of the way before 18 and slows down and then if there’s another car behind me, then the speed difference is enormous. So it’s something we have to look at overnight.
“If there’s something that we can do, it’s going to have to be before 16, honestly, because once you come out of that corner and you’re committed, there’s nothing honestly you can do. So it was just unfortunate.”
Race director Rui Marques has issued special guidelines for this weekend’s race instructing drivers to avoid impeding cars behind them after turn 16.
“Cars on out laps or slow laps should keep extreme left (i.e. not “offline” in middle of track) from exit [turn] 16 through to entry turn 18,” the rules state.
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“We consider that teams / drivers can and should manage traffic gaps before turn 18 (going as slowly as required being on the extreme left) to ensure that they can transit between the apex of turn 18 and apex of turn 19 without impeding an approaching car that is trying to set a competitive lap time.
“Cars on out laps or slow laps should keep ‘extreme’ right exit turn 19 until they achieve relevant speed to open the following lap.”
The stewards stated Hamilton failed to follow the guidance and issued him a reprimand.
“[Hamilton] was on an out-lap and [Lawson] was approaching on a flying lap,” they noted. “Hamilton had been informed twice by his team that Lawson was approaching.
“The Race Director’s Competition Notes require cars on out laps or slow laps to remain on the extreme left from the exit of turn 16 to the entry of turn 18, and require teams and drivers to manage their gaps before turn 18 so that they can travel from the apex of turn 18 to the apex of turn 19 without impeding a car on a competitive lap.
“Hamilton did not remain on the extreme left between Turns 16 and 18. Approaching turn 19, while Lawson was closing from behind, Hamilton stayed on the racing line which required Lawson to lift and slightly brake. The stewards therefore determined that Hamilton did not follow the traffic-management instructions and unnecessarily impeded Lawson.
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“The normal penalty for an impeding infringement during free practice is a warning unless it is dangerous or with intent. In this case, there was no intent but given the layout and the high speed corners as well as the specific instructions given by the race director, the impeding in the stewards’ opinion was severe.
“The stewards also took into account the difficulty to manage the energy deployment from turn 16 to turn 19 and the end of the lap. Additionally, both drivers mentioned during the hearing that when a driver has no more energy to deploy the difference of speed between the two cars in that specific section is important.
“Taking these circumstances into account, the stewards impose a driving reprimand.”
F1 altered its power unit rules earlier in the year to reduce the risk of high closing speeds causing a crash. This came after Oliver Bearman suffered a high-speed crash at Suzuka when he closed suddenly on Franco Colapinto’s Alpine.