VCARB driver Liam Lawson stirred up controversy with his comments about McLaren’s founder (Image: Getty)
has attempted to cool the war of words between Constructors’ Championship contenders and after sparking a row over their national anthem choice.
Lawson has only been on the Formula One grid for a short time – eight races in fact – but the Kiwi driver has already experienced the consequences of speaking out of turn in front of a global audience.
At the Mexican Grand Prix, Lawson was allegedly spotted sticking his middle finger up at – a move that earned him a stern at and his
And before the season’s final three races, the 22-year-old stirred up a storm when he blasted ‘s preference to celebrate with a British national anthem over New Zealand’s was “bulls***”, prompting outrage from the Papaya quarters.
Lawson’s remarks came in reference to the team’s founder Bruce , who raced in F1 between 1958 and 1970 and hailed from New Zealand.
However, ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the driver sought to clarify that his tongue-in-cheek comments were not genuine and admitted he is still on a learning curve.
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Lando Norris and McLaren both have the British national anthem played (Image: Getty)
“I think this is stuff that I’m learning in Formula One. As Lando [Norris] said, stuff gets taken out of context,” Lawson said.
“It’s ironic, I was laughing when I mentioned this comment in a podcast. And it was more of a joke, but obviously it got taken very literally. So, yeah, I don’t really have anything to add on that.”
Lawson is only the second driver this century to hail from the Oceanic nation, with Brendan Hartley driving for the now defunct Toro Rosso in 2017 and 2018.
The youngster, who has his sights set on claiming the second seat next to for 2025, spoke of his pride racing with his country’s flag.
Liam Lawson collided with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in Brazil (Image: Getty)
“Obviously, I’m very proud to be from New Zealand and our motorsport history,” he added. “Bruce is somebody who is an absolute icon in New Zealand in motorsport. So [he’s] somebody I looked up to and learned a lot about, let’s say, when I was younger.
“So, yeah, obviously proud to be a New Zealander, but I don’t have anything to add on the national anthem.”
The junior has already secud three top-10 finishes in his short period in F1 and his performances have attracted praise from team principal .
With that in mind, Lawson would be well-advised to concentrate on making the headlines for the right reasons in the last three races in Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.