📰 Liam Lawson records two Top-10 finishes in Barcelona practice

By Alex Powell

While only practice, Liam Lawson looks poised to continue his Formula One resurgence, and recorded two top-10 finishes on the first day of the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.

Fresh from a career-best result in Monaco, and on a weekend where a new technical directive for front wing flexibility is hoped to change this season’s pecking order, Lawson clocked the respective sixth and 10th fastest times across both sessions.

“It’s a good start to the weekend,” said Lawson after practice.

“It’s a good base to build on. But obviously, tomorrow is what counts.

“We’ll keep working on improving the car. Everybody is chasing it, everybody’s car was probably a little bit further away at the start of FP1, because of the new front wing.

“We’re slowly chasing the balance. There’s definitely a difference, you definitely feel the difference.

“For everybody, for every team, it’s different. For us, our car is in a good place right now.

“But we expect everybody to keep improving.”

With track temperatures touching 50 degrees at the Circuit de Catalunya, Lawson got through 55 laps across the two sessions, on all three tyre compounds as the perfect practice for Sunday’s qualifying.

McLaren showed those regulation changes might not halt their march towards the drivers and constructors championships, as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri topped the respective practices.

World championship leader Piastri set the fastest time of the day, with a best lap of 1m 12.760s, 0.286s quicker than the next best in practice two, Mercedes’ George Russell.

Lawson meanwhile was 0.734s back from Piastri’s best effort, but was also 0.094s slower than Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar.

The Kiwi had bettered Hadjar in practice one, when his fastest lap was 0.266s faster as the second of the four Red Bull-backed cars.

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen was second and third in the two respective practice sessions, with the Barcelona circuit tipped to favour the hostile RB21 car.

Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda meanwhile was ninth in FP1, but 13th in FP2, with no guarantee of his future beyond 2025.

As a positive sign, Lawson bettered his best time from FP1 in FP2, a good marker considering the second practice session is genuinely a more accurate measure of how a car will perform in qualifying the next day.

The Kiwi’s FP2 time was also notably 0.039s better than Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari - the team who many had tipped to gain the most from the regulation changes.

The 20 drivers should be very familiar with the Barcelona circuit, given its role in Formula Two and Formula Three, as well as being a regular location for pre-season testing.

Earlier, Lawson set the sixth-fastest time of the first practice session, and was 0.621s back from Norris, who topped the time sheets in the morning with a 1m 13.718s lap.

What’s more, Lawson was just 0.045s back from Piastri, who finished fifth in FP1, as Verstappen was second, 0.367s back from Norris.

Given the new technical regulations, FP1 effectively became a fact-finding mission for several of the 10 teams.

Lawson emerged from the Racing Bulls garage with an aero rake on the front of his car, as a means of testing how it’s affected by airflow in both corners and on straights.

Because of that, it was understandable that Lawson did not set a lap time in his first stint, before returning to the Racing Bulls garage.

There was a close shave, where Lawson did well to avoid Charles Leclerc at turn one, as the Ferrari slowed entering the corner with the Racing Bulls close in tow.

It wasn’t until the second quarter of the session onwards that Lawson could begin to set fast lap times, and was as high as seventh-place when he put in a 1m 15.507s on the hard tyres.

Inside the final 20 minutes of FP1, Lawson fitted a set of softs, and climbed to sixth with his best lap of 1m 14.339s.

Qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix begins at 2am on Sunday morning (NZ time), while Monday morning’s race begins at 1am.

Sunday’s qualifying will be vital, with 24 of the 34 grands prix raced in Barcelona won by the driver starting on pole.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission.