There was a brief heart-in-mouth moment for the Kiwi when his back left wheel clipped the wall at turn 21, but the car was not damaged.
Liam Lawson in practice for Formula One’s Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid. Photo / Red Bull
The only red flag of the day came via Lawson’s regular teammate Arvid Lindblad, who hit the barrier at turn 14. Until that moment, Lindblad had arguably been the day’s standout, after a best lap of 1m 33.890s.
In fact, the second session was so crowded, Lindblad’s time was enough for him to finish fourth, after other drivers weren’t afforded the chance to set late flying laps.
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli set the day’s fastest time, 1m 33.662s, a week on from seizing control of the drivers championship by winning his home race in Monza from 19th on the grid.
Both Ferrari cars were Antonelli’s closest challengers, with Charles Leclerc 0.113s back, and Lewis Hamilton 0.149s behind.
Lawson was 0.875s off temporary teammate Max Verstappen, who finished sixth in FP2.
In FP1, Lawson’s best lap of 1m 35.539s was enough for 10th place in the opening session, as all drivers’ primary objective became learning the new circuit, without making contact with one of the walls.
The Kiwi got through 26 laps on the medium and soft tyres, and at one point set the fastest time through the second sector. However, Lawson still finished 1.462s off the pace set by Mercedes’ George Russell, who posted a best lap of 1m 34.077s.
Lawson’s time was also 0.836s off Verstappen, who finished fifth in the session, and 0.506s back from Lindblad. Meanwhile, Lawson’s Racing Bulls replacement Yuki Tsunoda was less fortunate, and only managed 16 laps before losing his power steering and finishing 18th, nearly three seconds off the pace.
Drivers will get one final practice session tonight, before grand prix qualifying begins at 2am tomorrow (NZT).
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.