Liam Lawson launches strong Racing Bulls defence: 'We did nothing illegal'

Liam Lawson has defended Racing Bulls' controversial Monaco Grand Prix strategy, insisting the team did "nothing illegal."

Isack Hadjar qualified fifth and Lawson was ninth on the Monte Carlo grid, with every driver required to make a two-stop strategy work, leading to fears pre-race that the grand prix could be manipulated by teams to aid one of their drivers.

During the race, Lawson drove slowly to hold the chasing pack up to allow Hadjar to complete his two stops and ensure he banked a points finish, with Williams then following suit with Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz holding the field up so they could both finish in the top 10. 

Lawson earned his first points finish of the season with eighth place after the controversial race, and insists that the team played fully by the rules at all times.

"Criticism, I didn't see any criticism, I thought it was all positive," Lawson wryly told media, including RacingNews365.

"We have a job to score as many points as we can and make the best strategy possible. We did nothing illegal, and it was a very positive race from our side.

"It was not so much down to us, but more the nature of the track, which made it possible to do something like that. We can't do it at Barcelona or at any other track.

"There was a good likelihood that I ended up out of the points, and I knew after qualifying [that I might have to do the strategy], and that's why I was probably more disappointed after qualifying than anything. 

"I knew that I was most likely going to be in that position to defend, but thankfully it worked out for us. 

"I definitely didn't execute everything perfectly, and honestly, there were weekends this year I've had better weekends in the car or done a better job, but the results don't always show that in F1, but it is part of the learning process."