Liam Lawson has drawn a striking comparison between Charles Leclerc’s controversial overtake at the 2026 Brazilian Grand Prix and a similar manoeuvre involving Alex Albon nine years earlier. Following his late-race collision with the Ferrari driver at Interlagos, the Racing Bulls competitor suggested that Leclerc had repeated a tactic he previously used during his junior racing career, raising fresh questions about the legality of the move.
The New Zealander’s comments followed a closely fought battle in the final laps of the 71-lap race, when Leclerc made contact with Lawson’s car before eventually moving ahead. Although the Racing Bulls driver acknowledged that their contest had been enjoyable overall, he questioned the circumstances of the overtake and pointed to an almost identical incident from Leclerc’s past.
Liam Lawson compares Charles Leclerc’s Brazil overtake to 2017 incident with Alex Albon
Speaking after the Brazilian Grand Prix, Liam Lawson focused on the contact between his Racing Bulls and Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, suggesting that the front wing of the SF-26 had struck his left-rear tyre.
The New Zealander considered both drivers fortunate that the collision had not resulted in more serious consequences. However, what particularly caught his attention was the similarity between the manoeuvre and an incident involving Leclerc and Alex Albon during the 2017 junior racing season.
Lawson recalled that the Monegasque had executed an almost identical move against Albon in Abu Dhabi several years earlier. He suggested, with a degree of irony, that this type of overtaking manoeuvre might have become something of a speciality for the Ferrari driver.
The comparison concerned an incident from the 2017 GP2 era, now associated with the Formula 2 championship, when Leclerc made contact with Albon during a battle in Abu Dhabi.
On that occasion, the future Ferrari driver was involved in a similar wheel-to-wheel confrontation before using the resulting speed advantage to complete the overtake and claim victory.
By recalling that earlier encounter, Lawson suggested that the circumstances of his battle with Leclerc were not entirely unfamiliar. His comments added a historical dimension to the controversy surrounding Charles Leclerc’s Brazilian Grand Prix overtake, which had already attracted attention because of the contact between the two cars.
What happened between Charles Leclerc and Liam Lawson at Interlagos?
The incident occurred towards the end of lap 69 of the scheduled 71-lap Brazilian Grand Prix, as Charles Leclerc attempted to take seventh position from Liam Lawson.
Approaching the exit of Turn 12, the Juncão corner at Interlagos, the Ferrari driver positioned his car on the inside as he tried to complete the manoeuvre.
During the battle, the right-hand side of Leclerc’s front wing made contact with the left-rear tyre of Lawson’s Racing Bulls. The impact unsettled the New Zealander’s car and forced him wide, interrupting his attempt to defend the position.
Despite the contact, Lawson initially managed to remain ahead as the two drivers accelerated onto the following straight. Leclerc, however, benefited from a stronger corner exit and continued applying pressure as the battle moved into the next lap. The decisive overtake came at Turn 4, where the Monegasque finally moved ahead to claim seventh place on the road.
The battle was especially significant because it occurred with very little of the Grand Prix remaining, leaving limited opportunities for Lawson to recover the lost position.
The two drivers initially crossed the finish line with Leclerc seventh and Lawson eighth, although the incident subsequently attracted the attention of the FIA stewards.
Liam Lawson questions whether Charles Leclerc’s manoeuvre was legal
Although Liam Lawson did not deliver a definitive verdict on the legality of the move, he made clear that he wanted the incident examined.
The Racing Bulls driver acknowledged that he was uncertain whether Leclerc’s actions were permitted under the regulations and indicated that the contact would need to be reviewed. At the same time, Lawson did not dismiss the entire encounter as unfair or unnecessarily aggressive. Despite his concerns about the collision, he regarded the overall battle as a good contest between the two drivers.
His reaction therefore combined criticism of the specific contact with an appreciation of the competitive nature of their late-race fight. The distinction is important because Lawson’s comparison with the earlier Alex Albon incident concerned the way Leclerc completed the manoeuvre, rather than suggesting that their entire battle had been unacceptable.
The FIA stewards also examined the incident, with the contact between the Ferrari’s front wing and the Racing Bulls’ left-rear tyre becoming central to the discussion about how the overtake had unfolded.
The FIA investigation into the Charles Leclerc and Liam Lawson collision provided a separate focus of attention following the race, beyond the drivers’ immediate reactions.
Why Charles Leclerc’s late Brazilian GP overtake attracted attention
The confrontation between Charles Leclerc and Liam Lawson combined several elements that made it particularly contentious: close racing in the final laps, physical contact between the cars and a subsequent change in position.
Lawson’s ability to remain ahead immediately after the collision did not prevent Leclerc from completing the move shortly afterwards. The Ferrari driver’s stronger exit and successful attack at Turn 4 ultimately determined the order in which they crossed the finish line.
The sequence of positions during the Grand Prix can be explored through the Formula 1 race-position progression tracker, which provides a lap-by-lap view of how drivers move through the field.
For Lawson, the decisive feature of the incident was the similarity he perceived between Leclerc’s approach at Interlagos and the manoeuvre involving Alex Albon in Abu Dhabi nine years earlier. His comments suggested that he regarded the contact as more than an isolated misjudgement, although he stopped short of claiming certainty about whether the Ferrari driver’s actions breached the regulations.
The comparison also underlined why the incident continued to generate discussion after the chequered flag. While the on-track battle had ended, questions remained about the role the contact played in Leclerc’s successful overtake and whether such manoeuvres should be considered acceptable wheel-to-wheel racing.
Leave a Reply