Formula 1: Liam Lawson ruled out of Canada sprint qualifying as hydraulic leak ruins Kiwi’s car

“It’s a shame, the car looks really good as well. The pace is looking really good, and I felt good as well in the first couple of laps this morning.

“Plenty of positives, we have good speed. We just need to have a good day tomorrow, learn what we can in the sprint, and put it all into qualifying.”

Being unable to take part in sprint qualifying leaves Lawson at a severe disadvantage for tomorrow morning’s race and grand prix qualifying, thanks to the lack of time on track – having only had around 12 minutes before the fault ended his day.

Furthermore, while there was no on-track punishment, Racing Bulls were also fined just under $60,000 after Lawson’s clutch disengagement system (CDS) did not activate.

However, the FIA’s ruling also found that the marshal was pushing the wrong button when attempting to activate the CDS.

The clutch disengagement system is integral to the safe removal of a car by marshals. It allows a crashed or stopped car to have its clutch disengaged by stewards without the engine running.

If found to be in breach of the FIA’s Article C9.3, Lawson could be handed a punishment by the stewards to carry into sprint qualifying, if not the race itself.

The issues are just the latest for Lawson, who was forced out of the Miami Grand Prix earlier this month, after a mechanical failure left him unable to avoid contact with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, and the resulting crash ended both drivers’ races.

Lawson wasn’t the only driver to be forced out of sprint qualifying either. Williams’ Alex Albon also suffered terminal damage in practice, after he ran over a groundhog and hit the wall at the chicane between turn six and seven, with that damage also too much to overcome.

At the front of the grid, George Russell got one back on teammate Kimi Antonelli by taking pole position as Mercedes locked out the front row. While Russell was the hot favourite to win the 2026 drivers championship, he trails Antonelli by 20 points at the top of the standings.

Russell put in the best lap of the day, 1m 12.965s, to qualify 0.068s ahead of the 19-year-old.

World champion Lando Norris took third, 0.315s back from Russell, as McLaren locked out the second row with Oscar Piastri in fourth.

Promisingly for Lawson, teammate Arvid Lindblad qualified inside the top 10, and will start ninth after his best lap was 0.772s back from Russell, after Racing Bulls unveiled a major upgrade package for Canada.

The Canada sprint race begins at 4am on Sunday morning, before grand prix qualifying at 8am.

Canada sprint race starting grid

George Russell – MercedesKimi Antonelli – MercedesLando Norris – McLarenOscar Piastri – McLarenLewis Hamilton – FerrariCharles Leclerc – FerrariMax Verstappen – Red BullIsack Hadjar – Red BullArvid Lindblad – Racing BullsCarlos Sainz – WilliamsNico Hulkenberg – AudiGabriel Bortoleto – AudiFranco Colapinto – AlpineEsteban Ocon – HaasOllie Bearman – HaasFernando Alonso – Aston MartinSergio Perez – CadillacLance Stroll – Aston MartinPierre Gasly – AlpineValtteri Bottas – CadillacAlex Albon – WilliamsLiam Lawson – Racing Bulls

Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.