Lawson vs Gasly heading to COTA

As we head to the US Grand Prix this weekend at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, the rivalry between Visa Cash App Racing Bulls’ driver Liam Lawson and BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Pierre Gasly continues.

Lawson has scored in 12 of the 17 Grand Prix this season and sits ninth on 75-points in the F1 Drivers’ Standings while Gasly has scored in nine and sits tenth on 41-points.

With six races remaining, is it really a rivalry worth considering? That’s a good question because usually it is the rivalry between teammates that is closely followed. In fact, Lawson should hold out Gasly in the Drivers’ Standings whereas his teammate Arvid Lindblad is just three-points behind Gasly, maybe more of a contest?

Liam Lawson driving the (30) Visa Cash App Racing Bulls VCARB 02 leads Pierre Gaslydriving the (10) Alpine F1 A525 Renault on track during the 2025 F1 Grand Prix of United States at Circuit of The Americas – Photo by Simon Galloway/LAT Images

I think the answer lies with who is the best of the rest, that is the mid-field runners. More importantly, it is a battle between these drivers each time that they leave the pitlane, whether it is qualifying or racing.

Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull are the top four teams with their drivers filling the top eight places in the Drivers’ Standings.

Fifth placed Racing Bulls has a 32-point lead over Alpine with Haas F1 Team 38 behind them and Audi a further seven points behind in eighth.

And it’s not necessarily about the points.

We are now passed worrying whether Liam has done enough to keep his F1 seat for 2027. He continually beats his teammate in qualifying and in each race, Together they have given Racing Bulls something to cheer about placing them for a top 2026 result.

Now there is something gladiatorial about each F1 session. In each session, on the day, at each Grand Prix, who is the best driver of the rest!