Arvid Lindblad said he and Oscar Piastri were “in a genuine fight” before their collision in the closing stages of the Mexico City Grand Prix left the Racing Bulls driver unable to finish. Piastri was given a 10-second penalty after the race for the incident.
Lindblad had run in the points for much of the 71-lap race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Following a restart after a red flag, he moved ahead of Piastri into seventh, and the pair battled over several laps.
On lap 58, Piastri tried to pass on the outside at Turn 1 and made contact with Lindblad’s car. The impact at the left rear sent Lindblad into the air and into the wall on the exit of Turn 2.
“I don’t want to properly comment on it until I’ve seen all the footage,” Lindblad said immediately after the incident. He added that Piastri had been behind him for more than 10 laps and that he was committed to fighting for the position rather than letting the McLaren driver pass easily.
Although the crash marked Lindblad’s third race in a row without scoring, he said he was pleased with his performance over the weekend. He explained that two crashes earlier in the summer had affected his confidence, but that he felt more like himself in Mexico and was encouraged by his race pace.
Racing Bulls team-mate Liam Lawson finished tenth on the road after starting from the pit lane, having been disqualified from qualifying for a technical infringement. He was later promoted to seventh following Piastri’s penalty and further position changes involving Alpine drivers Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly.
Lawson said the team had lost time after missing a Virtual Safety Car opportunity and making a pit stop shortly before the Safety Car. He described the red-flag restart from 15th as helpful and called the result a good recovery.
Sources: Formula 1.