Formula 1: Liam Lawson achieves best qualifying result of 2025, to start ninth for Monaco Grand Prix

NZ Herald

24-05-2025

World championship leader Oscar Piastri will start third, and was 0.175s back from his teammate, while Leclerc's Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton completes the second row in fourth.
Current world champion Max Verstappen starts fifth, while Lawson's Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar is sixth, 0.969s back from Norris.
Make no mistakes, the Monaco Grand Prix is a race where qualifying holds more significance than any other circuit on the Formula One grid.
More often than not, a driver's best lap in qualifying is more significant than any of the 78 to be raced in the Grand Prix.
That's why the FIA - the sport's governing body - have gone to the lengths of dictating drivers must undertake at least two pit stops and make use of three sets of tyre compounds during the race.
Just what effect that has, though, will be seen in the Grand Prix.
Lawson can take confidence from his displays at Monaco in Formula Two, where he claimed an initial victory in the sprint race, before it was stripped for an illegal throttle map. On that occasion, though, Lawson finished ahead of Piastri, before he lost his result.
Taking to the track off the back of two top 10 finishes from three practices, Lawson temporarily set the fastest time in Q1, clocking a first mark of 1m 12.946s.
And while that mark understandably didn't stand as the fastest time for long, Lawson was able to progress with the 12th fastest time in Q1, 1m 11.818s, after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli hit the barrier at turn 11 to trigger a red flag.
Being on the right end of a red flag will be a welcome relief for Lawson, who was eliminated in Q1 at Imola last week for the same reason.
The Kiwi continued to improve into Q2, and posted a first time of 1m 11.646s to temporarily move second behind Leclerc, before Mercedes suffered another blow when George Russell lost power, and caused another red flag as he too was forced to retire.
Once the session resumed, Lawson improved even further with a best lap of 1m 11.250s, however that placed him ninth, and at risk of elimination. But Mercedes' retirements and three other drivers failing to better his time had Lawson advance to Q3 without any real issue.
One of those drivers was Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda, who missed out on Q3 by 0.153s, after replacing Lawson in the senior team after just two races earlier this year.
At no risk of elimination, Lawson was able to set a 1m 11.129s in Q3, but ultimately finished 1.175s off Norris, and 0.206s back from Hadjar.
And while Racing Bulls can take pride from having both cars finish in the top 10, Lawson will still have one eye on bettering Hadjar once the lights go out.
Earlier, Lawson continued his impressive displays from Friday practice by clocking the seventh-fastest time in the final session before qualifying.
Fresh from being the quickest of the four Red Bull-affiliated cars in FP2, Lawson was second only to Verstappen in FP3, and managed a best lap of 1m 11.814s, 0.861s off the pace set by Leclerc.
That time saw Lawson improve on his FP2 mark by nine milliseconds, and showed the Kiwi was continuously improving throughout the race weekend. Lawson logged another 33 laps in the third and final practice, the most by any of the 20 drivers on the grid.
In comparison, Hadjar finished FP3 in 17th, 0.457s back from his teammate. However, Hadjar was also prevented from setting a final push lap after Hamilton hit the wall to trigger a red flag, and prematurely end the session.
The Monaco Grand Prix begins at 1am on Monday (NZ time).
Monaco Grand Prix starting grid
Lando Norris - McLaren
Charles Leclerc - Ferrari
Oscar Piastri - McLaren
Lewis Hamilton - Ferrari
Max Verstappen - Red Bull
Isack Hadjar - Racing Bulls
Fernando Alonso - Aston Martin
Esteban Ocon - Haas
Liam Lawson - Racing Bulls
Alex Albon - Williams
Carlos Sainz - Williams
Yuki Tsunoda - Red Bull
Nico Hulkenberg - Sauber
George Russell - Mercedes
Kimi Antonelli - Mercedes
Gabriel Bortoleto - Sauber
Oliver Bearman - Haas * penalty
Pierre Gasly - Alpine
Lance Stroll - Aston Martin * penalty
Franco Colapinto - Alpine
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.