Liam Lawson has fired back at Zak Brown, who included a radio conversation between Racing Bulls and the New Zealander as part of his letter to the FIA regarding double-team ownership.
In Miami, Lawson was left surprised when asked by the Faenza-based outfit to let Max Verstappen past following an early incident between the pair.
Both drivers went off the circuit while fighting for position, with Lawson emerging ahead, only to then be told to let the four-time F1 champion through.
Lawson was surprised and, following a review of the team instruction ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, revealed there was an error.
“Yeah, we made a mistake,” Lawson told the media ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, including ApexF1News. “Yeah, we shouldn’t have done that, because the move was actually Max’s fault.
“And yeah, when reviewing it, I think the way it was reviewed by the team meant we didn’t look at it properly, and that’s why I was surprised.
“But you have such a short amount of time to make a decision, and that’s why you can get it wrong, and I think we did. But it was definitely something where, if we faced it again, we wouldn’t make the same decision.”
Interestingly, Racing Bulls’ radio message instructing Lawson to let Verstappen move ahead was included by Zak Brown in his letter to the FIA.
The McLaren CEO is pushing for tighter rules regarding teams owned by the same company working together. However, Lawson insists that no foul play took place in Miami.
Addressing the fact that letting Max Verstappen past was included in Brown’s letter to the FIA, Lawson said: “We’re doing everything by the rules. That’s the most important thing. We’re not breaking any rules with anything like that.
“And the way that incident was reviewed, if it had been any other car, it would have been the exact same decision. So it was simply that we made a mistake.”
