Why Alonso clash was good news for Lawson

Lawson and Alonso battled towards the back of the pack during Saturday’s Sprint at the Circuit of The Americas.

The two-time world champion ultimately won out in that contest but made a point of having words with his young New Zealand rival after the encounter.

According to the young Kiwi, who was making his first F1 race weekend appearance in over a year, Alonso promised to “screw me”.

That Lawson had vexed Alonso enough to prompt a reaction caught the approval of Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner.

“When you’re upsetting Fernando you know that you’re doing something right,” he told Sky Sports.

“He’s a tough, hard, racer.”

He subsequently added to the media: “I think if you’re getting into a spat and getting your elbows out with Fernando on your first race back in, you’re doing all right.

“He drove an exceptional race today, from 19th to ninth.

“He was fast, he was courageous, and I thought it was an excellent comeback.”

Alonso’s promise appeared to play out in Qualifying when the Aston Martin driver passed Lawson while exiting the pits later in the day.

From there, the matter appeared to be resolved, with the duo encountering each other on track during Sunday’s race with no further escalation.

“He was actually nice,” Lawson said of his interactions with Alonso on track during the race.

“I expected him to fight me a little bit more, but it was good.

“I think it was smart from both of us for that part of the race.

“It was very early on, and I think the hard [tyre] was working really well for us at that point.”

Adding gravitas to his performance, on top of it being only his sixth grand prix and first in a year, was that Lawson had never previously raced at Circuit of The Americas.

Alonso, meanwhile, will line up for this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix for his 400th race. The 43-year-old is the most experienced driver in F1 history.

“Obviously, he’s very experienced; he’s much more experienced than I am,” Lawson noted.

“But there are obviously things I can learn from him.

“I remember being a kid watching him on TV when I was racing go-karts and obviously somebody that I have a huge amount of respect for and what he’s done in Formula 1.

“There are things I can learn.”