Why Liam Lawson's career-best result at Monaco Grand Prix almost didn’t happen

Monday, 8 June 2026

Liam Lawson finished fifth in the Monaco Grand Prix, an equal career best result.

However, it almost never happened, after his car was “in a million pieces” just minutes before the race.

The Kiwi driver had all but given up on his chances of starting the grand prix after an issue was discovered on the morning of the race.

Monaco’s street circuit is all about fine margins, but Liam Lawson’s biggest race against the clock was just getting his Racing Bull on track.

The 24-year-old Kiwi eventually came home in fifth, behind Monaco Grand Prix winner Kimi Antonelli, to equal his best Formula 1 result of fifth on Monday morning (NZT).

With his rookie teammate Arvid Lindblad coming home in sixth, there was plenty to celebrate in Monaco and it wasn’t just the work of the two drivers.

Around half an hour before the race began, Lawson, who was due to start in tenth, had all but given up on taking his spot on the grid following a mechanical problem surfacing with his car.

Somewhat bizarrely, the news of the issue with Lawson’s Racing Bull became clear immediately after the F1 broadcast showed a promotional video of the Kiwi playing golf with his performance coach, Declan Foley.

“I might have some breaking news, he's not going to make the race,” Sky Sports F1 pundit Martin Brundle said of Lawson.

“Oh, you're joking me,” his fellow presenter Simon Lazenby said.

“I was just talking to him and he said best case scenario, he starts in the pit lane,” Brundle said.

“The cars got some gremlins. What a shame after such a mega qualifying,” Brundle continued.

“You could tell something was happening because there’s a Netflix crew down here as well,” Lazenby said.

However, the first part of Lawson’s Monaco miracle was complete when he made it out onto the grid for the formation lap.

“Liam Lawson’s car has been fixed and they are trying to get it all ship shape and out on time,” commentator David Croft said as the cars headed out to the grid.

“We had some issues with the cars with only half an hour to go and the mechanics performed fantastically getting the cars back together again in time,” Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane said post-race.

Permane didn’t reveal the exact nature of the issue.

Following his fifth-place finish, which equalled his previous best at the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Lawson revealed just how precarious the situation was.

'I walked over to the garage and saw the car was in a million pieces, and I thought I wasn't racing today,' Lawson told media post-race.

'So it was a big turnaround, and a massive thank you to the guys and girls for putting it together and getting us out on track.”

The significance of the team’s work was not lost on Lawson when he crossed the line and was told he had finished fifth.

“No way,” Lawson replied.

“Congrats guys, massive congrats, very, very good job,” Lawson said over his team radio.

“I hope that makes up for the farcical morning, thank you.”

“When the day starts bad, it ends well,” race engineer Alexandre Iliopoulos replied.

“We’ve proved it again.”

The second part of Lawson’s Monaco miracle was the likes of Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc all failing to finish, plus the penalties issued to George Russell and Pierre Gasly that ultimately shunted the Kiwi up the order.

“We benefited at the end through some penalties to other people but we put our car where it mattered and scored big points today,” Permane said.