The Kiwi finished with the 12th best time in the weekend’s second session (FP2), on the circuit where he achieved the best result of his career 12 months ago. However, in preparation for Saturday’s race, Lawson spent the first day on long runs, as opposed to going for out-and-out lap times.
Liam Lawson in practice for Formula One’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Photo / SmartFrame
Lawson’s best lap of the day, 1m 45.681s was 2.334s off the pace set by Mercedes’ George Russell, who topped both practice sessions as he battles with teammate Kimi Antonelli to claim this year’s world title.
Antonelli, in limited running on track due to a hydraulic issue, was 0.552s behind Russell, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was 0.827s down in FP2, having also been 0.4s back in the day’s first session.
Things didn’t fare as well for Lawson’s Racing Bulls teammate Arvid Lindblad in FP2, who – after impressing all day – clipped the wall at turn eight to trigger a red flag, and denied himself the final 40 minutes on track to post the 18th fastest time.
Racing Bulls do face a fight this weekend, as midfield rivals Audi and Williams have arrived in Baku with upgrade packages for their respective cars, while Cadillac’s Sergio Perez also has an improved power unit.
At the same race last year, Lawson achieved his two best results in Formula One, qualifying third before finishing fifth.
Earlier, in FP1, Lawson’s best lap of 1m 46.440s was enough for sixth place, 1.053s off the pace set by Russell, who posted a time of 1m 45.387s, in an eventful session that saw six separate yellow flags.
In promising signs for Racing Bulls, Lindblad was eighth, 0.331s back and 1.384s off the pace. Impressively, both Racing Bulls drivers’ best times came without using a set of soft tyres.
The Kiwi spent the majority of FP1 on hard tyres, practising long runs he’ll likely use during Saturday night’s race, and rapidly improved his best time throughout the session after posting a lap of 1m 56.964s first up.
The first session wasn’t without incident. More than one driver complained of issues with their brakes overheating in hot temperatures, while two cars caught fire – Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Antonelli.
Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar was also forced out of the session on his return from a wrist injury with an engine failure, and managed eight laps for the 20th fastest time.
Qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix gets underway at midnight on Saturday. The race weekend has been brought forward by 24 hours to commemorate Azerbaijan’s national remembrance day on Sunday.
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.