Oliver Bearman drops unexpected 1-word response on team radio after stunning overtake on Liam Lawson in China

Haas F1 driver Oliver Bearman gave an unexpected one-word send-off to Red Bull driver Liam Lawson after he made a stunning overtake on the Kiwi tuning the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix. It was a race of contrasting fortunes for the two rookies given that the Brit made his way into the points after executing a perfect strategy with his team, whilst the Red Bull driver was unable to make the gains he would have hoped for, starting from the pitlane.

Lawson never looked comfortable with his RB21 despite making radical changes overnight and starting on the alternative strategy with hard tires. The move did not come to fruition as expected, as the Kiwi had to pit twice and could only finish P15.

Oliver Bearman was rapid in his VF-25 after he switched to medium tires and was passing cars with ease. On his overtake on Liam Lawson, the 19-year-old gave a cheeky and unexpected one-word reaction on the team radio, saying:

"Ciao."

In his post-race interview, the Haas F1 driver clarified his reactions on the team radio and said:

"I feel really bad now. I overtook someone, and I said 'ciao'. We did, we had two switch backs at Turn 14."

Oliver Bearman made it a double-point finish for the American team with his P10 finish after Esteban Ocon came home in P7.

---

Liam Lawson analyzes his "difficult" Chinese GP weekend

Red Bull driver Liam Lawson said that he was unable to get the maximum out of the car in the main race as he had expected despite making changes and starting from the pitlane.

Speaking in his post-race interview, Lawson reflected on the race strategy and said:

"We tried to do something quite aggressive today with, you know, that's why we started from the pit lane. Mostly learned something and got an idea. Then we definitely learn something. And it just didn't work today."

"Looking at the sprint yesterday, we were a lot more competitive, able to overtake cars and stuff. Today was just a lot more difficult. So it's something we'll learn from but obviously there's been that I've got to work on personally as well."

Liam Lawson got some positive words of affirmation from Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, who told Sky Sports:

"Liam is a great little racer. He gets his elbows out and races hard. He's just struggling at the moment, finding the limit with his car, getting the most out of the car. As a team, as a group, we're looking to support him in the best way that we can."

It was a difficult weekend overall for Liam Lawson as he qualified last both in the sprint shootout and main qualifying and was unable to get into points in the sprint and the main race.