Latest news with #LiamLawson
RNZ News
18 hours ago
- Automotive
- RNZ News
Oscar Piastri on pole in Spain, Liam Lawson to start 13th
Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls at the Spanish Grand Prix, 2025. Photo: CHARLY LOPEZ / AFP Formula One championship leader Oscar Piastri seized pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday with teammate and title rival Lando Norris completing a McLaren front row sweep. New Zealand's Liam Lawson will start 13th for Racing Bulls. Red Bull's Max Verstappen, last year's winner, qualified third fastest in the same time as Mercedes' George Russell, who will start fourth because the reigning champion finished his lap first. Piastri had led the final shootout with a lap of one minute and 11.836 seconds but Norris then made the most of an aerodynamic tow to go quicker by 0.017 as stricter front wing flex tests made no difference to McLaren's speed. Norris, winner in Monaco last Sunday to close the gap at the top to three points, managed to improve his time only to 1:11.755 before Piastri clinched pole with a final effort of 1:11.546 around the Circuit de Catalunya. The pole was the Australian's fourth in nine races so far this season. "It wasn't the perfect lap but I think around here with the tyres going off so much through the lap it's very tough to do that," Piastri said. "I'm very happy with all the work we've put in." After starting the day with some good speed, Lawson was a little disappointed with his final qualifying position. "We were always chasing balance throughout the session, but the speed was strong," Lawson said. "The car felt really good and I thought we had a great final lap in Q2, so we'll be reviewing it as a team ahead of tomorrow, particularly given this was the first time the car lacked speed during the weekend. "There are opportunities for overtaking here, so as always we'll be pushing for points." Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton qualified fifth for Ferrari with Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli sixth. Charles Leclerc was seventh for Ferrari, doing only one flying lap, with Alpine's Pierre Gasly eighth and Isack Hadjar ninth for Racing Bulls. Spain's double world champion Fernando Alonso completed the top 10 for Aston Martin in front of his home crowd. -RNZ/Reuters
Associated Press
19 hours ago
- Automotive
- Associated Press
Tsunoda under pressure after new Red Bull driver hits bottom of qualifying in Spain
MONTMELO, Spain (AP) — Yuki Tsunoda is under immense pressure to turn things around after the new Red Bull driver bottomed out in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday. Tsunoda will start his seventh race for Red Bull from ignominious last place. Only a massive drive on Sunday will get him back into the points. The Japanese driver was promoted from Red Bull's junior Racing Bulls team after the season was already underway. Red Bull made the stunning decision after only two rounds to drop Liam Lawson as the teammate of Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen. Lawson crashed out of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix and qualified in last place for the Chinese Grand Prix and its sprint race. Now it is the 25-year-old Tsunoda who needs to show he's capable in the Red Bull seat after four previous seasons with the junior team. Tsunoda was at a loss to explain why he and his team can't get it right. 'Whatever I do, every lap, even like a long run was a good example, just whatever I do, nothing happens,' Tsunoda said. 'It doesn't really stack up … I don't know what it is, and I can't really have any answer to that.' Red Bull's second seat is, naturally, constantly compared to Verstappen, and has become something of a poisoned chalice. The experienced Sergio Pérez struggled as Verstappen's partner and his performance dipped so much last season that Red Bull lost to McLaren the constructors' title even though Verstappen won a fourth straight drivers' title. Tsunoda's best finish so far was ninth in Bahrain. He finished last week's Monaco GP in 17th. Verstappen will start Sunday's Spanish GP from third, behind pole sitter Oscar Piastri and his McLaren teammate Lando Norris. ___ AP auto racing:
NZ Herald
19 hours ago
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Formula 1: Liam Lawson disappointed with qualifying effort, to start 13th in Spanish Grand Prix
Liam Lawson will start 13th in Formula One's Spanish Grand Prix, after being eliminated in the second session of qualifying in Barcelona. The Kiwi was 0.152s away from reaching the third qualifying session (Q3), after a weekend that had seen him in the top 10 of all three practice sessions.
NZ Herald
a day ago
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Liam Lawson gifted Whittaker's chocolate by Kiwi Formula 1 fan
For Liam Lawson, few prizes could be as sweet as victory in this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix. But a fellow Kiwi's gift of several Whittaker's chocolate blocks must surely come close. Todd Kirkwood, a Formula 1 fan, kept the blocks in his luggage for a month while on a two-month
1News
a day ago
- Automotive
- 1News
Liam Lawson delivers double top 10 finish during Spanish GP practice
Kiwi Formula One driver Liam Lawson has made an impressive start to the Spanish Grand Prix weekend, clocking two top 10 finishes between the two practice sessions at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The 23-year-old Racing Bulls driver, who scored a career-best finish last weekend in Monaco, was sixth fastest in Free Practice 1, and 10th fastest in Free Practice 2, showing an encouraging pace across the day. Lawson called the result "a good start to the weekend". "It's a good base to build on," he said after practice. "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. ADVERTISEMENT '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.' Liam Lawson during practice in Spain. (Source: Getty) The Spanish Grand Prix weekend marks the debut of a new technical directive regarding front wing flexibility, with most teams using FP1 largely as a data-gathering mission. The Kiwi driver ran all three tyre compounds during the sessions but didn't set a lap time in his initial run due to the car being fitted with an aero rake — a tool used to analyse airflow during regulation changes. During the final 20 minutes of FP1, Lawson posted a 1.14.339 on a fresh set of soft tires to go sixth fastest, just 0.045s behind championship leader Oscar Piastri. Lawson finished ahead of teammate Isack Hadjar, who ended the session in P8. In FP2, Lawson again looked comfortable and clocked a fasted lap time of 1.13.494, finishing P10 ahead of Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari. ADVERTISEMENT McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri topped both sessions, respectively, with reigning world champion Max Verstappen for Red Bull also remaining near the front. Lawson will be looking to continue his strong form in Qualifying on Sunday morning (2am NZT), where 24 of the last 34 races in Barcelona have been won from pole position. The race will take place Monday morning at 1am (NZT).
