Lawson says McLaren wrong anthem remark was "more of a joke"

Rookie Lawson, who races for Red Bull-owned VCARB, said in a recent podcast that British-based championship leaders McLaren were really "a New Zealand team". He pointed out also that Red Bull, though British-based, played the Austrian anthem.

When asked ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend whether he had received any feedback from McLaren, Lawson told reporters: "I think this is stuff that I'm learning in Formula 1. I was laughing when I mentioned this comment in a podcast. And it was more of a joke, but obviously, it got taken very literally.

"Obviously, I'm very proud to be from New Zealand and our motorsport history. Bruce McLaren is somebody who is an absolute icon in New Zealand in motorsport. So somebody I looked up to and learned a lot about, let's say when I was younger," explained Lawson.

McLaren founded his team in 1963 and entered Grand Prix racing in 1966. He died while testing a Can-Am car at Goodwood in southern England in 1970.

The McLaren Group is owned by Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat. The team that Kiwi Bruce built is run by Italian team principal Andrea Stella, who answers to American VCEO Zak Brown. With a British driver Lando Norris and an Australian, Oscar Piastri.