Nico Hulkenberg has a nickname for Liam Lawson’s driving style, and it isn’t a compliment. After their coming-together at the Monza restart, the Audi driver labelled the squeeze his Red Bull counterpart put on him as nothing new, just business as usual for the New Zealander.
The clash happened at Turn 4 following the race restart, with Liam Lawson forced off the circuit and needing a new front wing after sustaining damage. That pit stop cost him roughly 30 seconds he never recovered, and he trailed home 14th while Hulkenberg salvaged 12th. The stewards investigated, handed Lawson a black-and-white flag, and left it there. Hulkenberg does not think that was enough.
A Familiar Complaint With a New Label
Asked about the incident afterwards, Hulkenberg did not hold back, telling select media including RacingNews365 exactly what he thinks happens whenever Lawson lines up alongside him on track.
“Liam? Yeah, he just likes to squeeze. He always likes to squeeze people when you go next to him. He never really wants to leave a car’s width. It’s his signature. It’s no hard feelings. It’s just a bit tricky.” – Nico Hulkenberg
Notice the phrasing. Not a one-off, not a racing incident, a signature. That is Hulkenberg’s way of saying this is a pattern, not an accident of the moment, and Hulkenberg is not the first to experience this.
The Stewards Let It Slide, Hulkenberg Isn’t Happy About It
What stings more than the clash itself, it seems, is how lightly it was treated afterwards. Hulkenberg pointed to conversations that took place in the drivers’ briefing, where such moves were apparently flagged as needing proper scrutiny, only for the stewards to wave this one through with the mildest sanction available.
“I need to see from the outside, but in the briefing, we said that this should be taken seriously. Especially at those speeds, it felt a bit sketchy at the time in the car.” – Nico Hulkenberg
A black-and-white flag is meant as a warning, a slap on the wrist rather than a punishment. For a move that forced a rival off the road and left Hulkenberg feeling genuinely uneasy at speed, that looks like a mismatch between what gets discussed in theory and what actually gets enforced on a Sunday. Drivers can agree in a briefing room that a certain kind of squeeze is unacceptable, but if the stewards then shrug it off once it actually happens, the briefing was just noise.
Lawson’s Side of the Weekend
Lawson finished the race and, notably, was not the one doing the complaining afterwards. Max Verstappen took the other Red Bull to a podium at Monza, though he later admitted a car issue had cost him time. Lawson’s own weekend, by contrast, was defined by the wing change and the 30 seconds he could never claw back, dropping him from wherever he might have finished to a distant 14th.
Reputation Is Doing the Talking Now
Whether Hulkenberg’s read is entirely fair is a matter of opinion, but the word choice matters. Calling something a signature move implies other drivers have clocked the same behaviour before, and once that reputation sticks, every future clash gets read through that lens whether it deserves it or not. Lawson does not need pundits piling on, he needs stewards willing to draw a harder line the next time somebody says a move at those speeds felt sketchy from the cockpit. Until that happens, expect this complaint to resurface the next time these two find themselves wheel to wheel.
