– One might think that Formula 1 drivers travel exclusively by private jet or in Business and First Class. However, for the Racing Bulls driver duo, Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad, this is not always the case.
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After the weekend in Spa, Lawson shared a photo on social media showing the two on their flight home in an EasyJet plane – just a few rows from the front seats, next to another passenger.
In the Hungaroring paddock, both have now confirmed that – unlike many of their rivals, who regularly provide their followers with pictures from private jets – they still regularly travel on scheduled flights, including budget airlines.
For Lindblad, the reason is quite simple: “I don’t have much money, so I still fly on regular scheduled flights,” he says. “There’s nothing wrong with that. I’ve always done it this way. If I can save a bit of money, I might as well save money, even if I had more. So I have no problem at all flying with EasyJet.”
The two were booked close together by the team, with Lawson getting the window seat and Lindblad ending up in the middle seat. “The team likes to put us next to each other,” explains Lindblad. “One isn’t put in row 1 and the other in row 27. That would be a bit rude. We were actually supposed to be in 3D and 3F.”
“The woman was very upset when I said I had the aisle seat. I just said, ‘If you want to stay there, I can go to the middle seat.’ So yes, Liam and I sat next to each other.”
The duel was also discussed, of course
The two had plenty to talk about on the flight, having been responsible for one of the closest battles of the Belgian Grand Prix.
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Lindblad overtook his teammate during the race after the two had driven side-by-side through Eau Rouge and down the Kemmel Straight, with Lawson having to take to the run-off area at Les Combes to avoid a collision.
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This duel naturally came up on the journey home: “Yes, we talked about it,” says Lindblad. “Honestly, we have a really good relationship. We raced hard against each other in Spa, and as soon as we saw each other after the race, he said to me, ‘Well done’ and ‘Good race.’ I found that really impressive from him.”
No bad blood after tough battle
“I’ve always tried to do the same. When I had problems in qualifying and he was in Q3, I said to him, ‘Well done’ when I saw him.”
“I think we manage this balance on and off the track really well. When we’re in the car, we fight hard. But off the track, we have a good relationship. We get along well. Some of the TikTok challenges we do certainly help this bond too,” says the Brit.
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“So yes, we talked about it. In the end, outside the car, we’re just normal guys. We don’t really care.”
Lawson also confirms that he holds no grudge against his teammate, even though he had to take evasive action during the race: “It was actually a really, really good battle,” he says. “I don’t know many cars that have gone side-by-side through Eau Rouge and continued side-by-side down the entire straight like we did.”
“Last weekend he was definitely faster. Honestly, there wasn’t much I could have done to defend against that. He would have pulled away from me anyway. So, it’s all good.”
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