Coulthard and Palmer Disagree with Lawson's Take on Albon Incident at COTA

Liam Lawson will start the 2026 United States Grand Prix from ninth on the grid, having qualified tenth at the Circuit of the Americas. Racing Bulls had both drivers make it into Q3, but it was an eventful session for Lawson. His teammate, Arvid Lindblad, took a grid penalty after using a sixth internal combustion engine, promoting Lawson one spot up the starting order. Lawson didn't set a time in Q3, narrowly making it through Q2 by a margin of just 0.022 seconds.

The real drama for Lawson, however, began in Q1, where he voiced his frustration over the team radio, claiming he was impeded by Alex Albon of Williams. As Lawson pushed through the last corners on a flying lap, he encountered Albon, who was on a warm-up lap, and felt he'd been held back. "What the f— is this Williams doing? That's so bad," he exclaimed.

Yet, not everyone agreed with Lawson's assessment. Former drivers David Coulthard and Jolyon Palmer, now commentators, felt Lawson's grievance was exaggerated. Coulthard remarked on F1TV that the Williams didn't seem to be close enough to cause significant interference. Palmer concurred, suggesting that while there was some dirty air that caused understeer, it wasn't egregious interference. He added that Lawson still managed an impressive lap, ranking sixth at that point.

Lawson's frustration was understandable, given that he hadn't set a flying lap time in Q1 when he encountered Albon. The Williams driver's slower pace through the final corners was a distraction, especially since Lawson was carrying much more speed—105 kph faster through one of the turns. Despite the distraction, Lawson managed to clock a 1:35.662, his best time in Q1.

While Coulthard and Palmer found Albon's positioning not overly obstructive, Lawson clearly felt otherwise, highlighting the challenges drivers face in finding clear air during crucial qualifying moments.