Formula 1: Liam Lawson needs to show progress at Imola
New Zealand driver Liam Lawson at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, 2025.
Photo:
PHOTOSPORT
Analysis
- The pressure continues to mount for New Zealand driver Liam Lawson heading into the sixth round of the Formula 1 World Championship.
Entering this weekend's Emilio Romagna Grand Prix at Imola in Italy, Lawson remains without a point in the championship.
Following Alpine's switch of drivers last week, with Franco Colapinto replacing Jack Doohan for the next five races, the question that is doing the circuit is..... who is next?
Lawson remains at the top of the list.
It is a little unfair on the 23-year-old who has had a bit of a rough time this year.
However, in motorsports' pinnacle event, it is all about winning.
Lawson isn't the only one struggling, with two-time world champion Fernando Alonso also yet to pick up a point.
There are plenty of reserve drivers or those in F2 that are waiting to take over a seat.
This week, former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya weighed in with his thoughts about Lawson saying he "wouldn't be surprised"
if Racing Bulls replaced him before the end of the season.
Lawson's confidence took a battering in the first two races of 2025 when he struggled to optimise the Red Bull car and admitted to being blindsided by his relegation back to Racing Bulls.
That sort of treatment can certainly take a toll on a driver and he needs to show the mental fortitude that got him to F1 in the first place.
Luck plays a part in sporting careers and Lawson would appreciate a bit of luck going his way soon.
Last year, Lawson was seen as a young star with huge potential. In 2025, he has to turn that potential into some sort of success and this weekend that means progress.
Battling with the also-rans is no longer acceptable, it is about championship points.
The 23-year-old's best results so far have been 12th twice, while he has also had two DNF's.
He has also generally trailed his Racing Bulls team-mate Isack Hadjar which doesn't help.
Photo:
PHOTOSPORT
The car and courses do remain an issue for him.
Making Q3 and ensuring a top ten grid start is within reach of the team, but not consistently.
Racing Bulls team principal Laurent Mekies has admitted that they haven't always managed to get the best out of their cars.
Qualifying has been an issue for Lawson.
"The difference between one or two-tenths can knock you out of Q1 or put you in Q3, which is really, really tough," Lawson said earlier this season.
He has also had to familiarise himself with new tracks.
That is not the case this weekend as Lawson has driven at Imola before (F2).
Time is ticking and Lawson needs to make a move soon.
The San Marino Grand Prix use to be at Imola despite San Marino being 100km away. The race is now called the Emilia-Romagna for the region it is in.
The track is officially called the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari and is one of the few circuits that runs anti-clockwise.
Racing Bulls drivers Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar, 2025.
Photo:
PHOTOSPORT
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter
curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Sports Chat for 12 June 2025
An update on what's happening in the sports world with Nathan Rarere. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Train driver taken to hospital after train, truck collide in Auckland
Photo: Supplied by Kiwirail KiwiRail says a freight train and a truck collided at a "passive crossing", which isn't controlled by bells, flashing lights or barrier arms. Emergency services were called to the incident at Kiwi Street in the suburb of Favona about 7.45pm on Wednesday. St John Ambulance said one person was taken to hospital in a minor condition. KiwiRail said its rail operator was taken to hospital for an assessment but did not receive any injuries, and has since been discharged. "The Kiwi Street rail crossing is a passive crossing in that it is controlled by signage rather than bells, flashing lights or barrier arms," it said in a statement. It confirmed that this meant it was up to drivers of vehicles to check for any oncoming trains. KiwiRail said it was too early to determine the cause of the incident, but it would be gathering information about previous incidents at that crossing as part of the investigation.
RNZ News
4 hours ago
- RNZ News
Basketball: Breakers to-do list still includes securing imports
Petteri Koponen Coach of the Breakers Photo: © Photosport Ltd 2024 Following an off-season change of ownership and a change of focus the Breakers believe they are ahead of their rivals a few months out from the start of the NBL season. Breakers president of basketball operations Dillon Boucher has a long to-do list that he has been chipping away at since March, when he got appointed to the role by the new ownership group lead by Marc Mitchell, but as the start of the season gets closer he's satisfied with the progress made. "We're really happy with the roster we're pulling together and it's certainly starting to find some shape. "When I compare where we're at with other teams in the NBL, I feel like we're right on track and ahead of quite a few teams. "We'll spend some time up at the NBA Summer League (next month) up in Vegas to really try and find some some talent up there as well as working really hard behind the scenes to identify the players that we really want to have a closer, deeper look at." On contract so far are Alex McNaught, Carlin Davison, Izayah Le'Afa, Kaia Isaac, Karim Lopez, Max Darling, Reuben Te Rangi, Rob Loe, Sam Mennenga, Sean Bairstow, Tacko Fall and Taylor Britt. With nine of those players New Zealanders , Fall is the only import on the list. Breakers guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright. Photo: photosport Getting American guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright back for a third season was an option the Breakers were looking at. "We're having lots of conversations with lots of different agents and there's been some really positive conversations with some agents. "We're not in a rush to sign these [imports] the locals are always the ones you want to get signed as quick as possible because there's obviously fewer of them around, but with the imports there's so many around and it's about really doing your homework on them and making sure they fit in with the local talent you've got and can bring what the team needs in those specific roles that you bring them in as." Boucher did not think they would have trouble attracting import talent. "The NBL itself is an attractive league, but New Zealand is an attractive place to be, getting to come down here in a shorter league compared to Europe and compared to some of the Asian leagues as well, we're a shorter league and they can finish the season here and either take a break, or they can then continue and go back to Europe and play the remaining few months in Europe, or they can go to Puerto Rico, or they can go to China, there's these other leagues still going on around the world when ours finishes." Reports out of Australia point to the introduction of an in-season tournament for the 2025-26 NBL season. The tournament would be played as mid-week games and each team would play four games in the tournament, two home and two away. Games would count towards the team's regular season record but would also have a scoring system for winning quarters and whole games that counted towards the tournament. The tournament silverware would be decided by a Grand Final between the two teams with the most accumulated points. An in-season tournament has been part of the NBA since the 2023-24 season with the NBA Cup giving teams additional prize money and another trophy to play for. The NBL version has used that as inspiration. Giannis Antetokounmpo #34, MarJon Beauchamp #3, Damian Lillard #0 and Brook Lopez #11 of the Milwaukee Bucks celebrate with the championship trophy after the Bucks defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 97-81 to win the championship game of the Emirates NBA Cup. Photo: ETHAN MILLER The change to the NBL would mean each of the 10 teams would play 33 games in the season, up from the 29 in previous regular seasons. Boucher could not confirm the in-season tournament before the NBL released the schedule but said "certainly keep an eye out because the league is always looking to really push those boundaries, which I love, which gives the clubs more opportunities". More games did not mean a longer season, according to Boucher. "It's still going to probably run around the same time. It's not going to run much longer than within what it has previously so it's not going to impact those players going abroad afterwards." The pre-season tournament, known as NBL Blitz, will move away from the Gold Coast where it has been held for the past two seasons and head to Australia's capital, Canberra. Last season the pre-season tournament was held in September but this season it is reportedly going to start in August. Breakers coach Petteri Koponen was a late signing last season after the previous coach left his contract early and had a limited build-up with the team. Boucher said pre-season would be different this time. "It'll probably be different in a slightly different way this year because we are likely to have some of our players involved with the Tall Blacks, which will be involved in the Asia Cup, so and that campaign runs quite late into August. "So we will have to be conscious of those guys being implemented back into the group, and we're just working through what the pre-season looks like now, between where the Blitz is going to be and when that's going to be, and then also what other games we'll be structuring around that to ensure that the team has as much preparation as possible leading into that first game of the season. Boucher said discussions were being had with other NBL clubs about more opportunities for pre-season friendlies but there were plenty of logistics to consider. "Are we going to be playing games in New Zealand? Are we going to be playing games in Australia, or are we going to be playing games, further afield than Australia? So it's a bit of a juggling act at the moment working on what players will we have available, what dates they'll be available, and then what time the team will start the pre-season and be able to get enough prep time in." Boucher did know that NBA games were off the table this season. Matt Mooney #13 of the New Zealand Breakers drives past Dillon Jones #3 of the Oklahoma City Thunder Photo: AFP The Breakers squeezed in three games against NBA opposition the course of a couple of weeks during the last NBL season which added to the players' travel schedule and was criticised for what the benefit was. "We have no plans to be playing in the NBA this year, but it's certainly not off the cards for future years. If it fits in with our schedule, we certainly would be open to the opportunity to have a look at it and but for the season, because of the short turnaround, we've decided that we won't be looking at an NBA pre season game." NBA team, the New Orleans Pelicans, would be playing in Australia against Melbourne-based NBL sides in October and Boucher would be keen to see something similar here. "If there was an opportunity to bring an NBA team to New Zealand we would 100 percent jump at it. With the fact that we've got an NBA team coming to Australia as the first step, and obviously it's going to be fantastic for the league to have two teams going up against an NBA team on Australian soil." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
