Fernando Alonso and Liam Lawson Share a Laugh After Rivalry Ends

Formula One veteran Fernando Alonso and Liam Lawson were seen laughing together after the Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg, a sign that the two drivers had settled their differences following a heated clash during last year’s United States Grand Prix.

The 2024 sprint race in Austin saw Alonso and Lawson battle for 16th place when the latter defended his position aggressively. The clash then spilled onto the pit lane after the race. Lawson revealed later that Alonso threatened to “screw” him during qualifying. Speaking after the race, the Kiwi driver said:

“I understand he had a pretty horrible race so I can understand why he’s upset.

“But if I did anything wrong I’d have got a penalty.

“It is what it is, it’s part of it – it doesn’t bother me.”

He added:

“He said he would screw me, and I guess he kept his word. I don’t know. He was really upset. I’m not sure why – we were racing for P16, and I don’t know why he was so upset.

“It is what it is. Hopefully, he can get over it. And we’ll move forward.”

Alonso said he avoided a big crash with Lawson. He explained:

“On the straight, I think we nearly crashed, like I did with Lance two years ago, at 300 km/h or something, and then, the way he squeezed, out of the corners, to the track limits itself, in lap one of [19].”

He added:

“Everyone on track is behaving as he wants, and for me, today was unnecessary.

“Everyone can have different opinions. I’m OK with that. You know, it’s 24 races, so you meet somewhere in the journey.”

Tensions escalated during the Miami sprint race this year when Lawson made contact with Alonso’s AMR25, causing him to spin and crash into the wall.

Now though, the pair of drivers were seen chatting happily after the race at the Red Bull Ring, where Lawson secured an impressive P6 finish, while Alonso finished seventh. According to MARCA, Alonso approached Lawson to congratulate him on his points finish. Lawson laughed when the Spaniard opened up on how he was able to remain close to him in the DRS zones. Alonso said:

“From Turn 4 to 9, I treated it as if it were a time trial, and then at Turn 9, I caught the first detection zone (DRS detection zone), and from there, I used DRS until Turn 1, I used detection again and got DRS until Turn 3. And the same at Turn 4. Then until the new one, like a time trial, and so on for 60 laps. Like a cycling time trial, but without any relays.”