![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/f1-grand-prix-of-singapore-practice-CSVMDNI4PFCSXCNBENTYUVZL5Y.jpg\")
<\/p>\nKiwi Formula 1 driver Liam Lawson has secured seventh on the grid for the S\u00e3o Paulo Grand Prix after a qualifying session full of surprises in Brazil.<\/p>\n
The Racing Bulls driver made his first Q3 appearance since August, delivering a timely result as he continues to fight for a full-time seat in 2026. <\/p>\n
Setting a fastest lap time of 1m 09.962s in Q3, it marks the best qualifying result for Lawson since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where he started a career-best third. <\/p>\n
The session produced several shocks, with Red Bull\u2019s Max Verstappen knocked out in Q1 and forced to settle for 16th.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I have no grip \u2013 zero,\u201d the reigning world champion told his team after posting a 1m10.403s lap.<\/p>\n
Verstappen\u2019s teammate Yuki Tsunoda, one of Lawson\u2019s rivals for a seat next year, fared even worse, qualifying 19th.<\/p>\n
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton also made an early exit, putting his Ferrari only 13th on the grid.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
(Mark Sutton – Formula 1\/Formula 1 via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
McLaren\u2019s Lando Norris continued his strong surge of form and secured pole position for tomorrow\u2019s race, and will be joined by Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli on the front row.<\/p>\n
Ferrari\u2019s Charles Leclerc rounded out the top three, with Norris\u2019 teammate Oscar Piastri lining up fourth on the grid. <\/p>\n
The Brazil Grand Prix will take place on Monday morning (6am NZT). <\/p>\n
A crash-filled sprint race <\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, Lawson climbed from 17th to 13th in a chaotic sprint at Interlagos, navigating a wet-but-drying track and several heavy incidents.<\/p>\n
The Kiwi was caught up in a lap-one tangle with Haas rookie Oliver Bearman and was handed a five-second penalty and one penalty point. <\/p>\n
Bearman was also penalised, first for driving in a manner deemed potentially dangerous, before Lawson was later ruled to have caused the collision.<\/p>\n
In their ruling, stewards said Bearman left \u201cinsufficient room\u201d as Lawson moved alongside, forcing the Racing Bulls driver to put \u201ctwo wheels on the wet grass\u201d at high speed. <\/p>\n
Lawson\u2019s separate penalty came after officials concluded video footage did not clearly show he had sufficient overlap to be entitled to racing room.<\/p>\n
Lawson is now on eight penalty points for the past 12-month period, with the threshold 12 before a ban occurs. <\/p>\n
At the front, Norris converted a sprint pole into victory to extend his championship lead, finishing ahead of Mercedes duo Antonelli and Russell.<\/p>\n
Piastri wasn\u2019t so lucky, sliding into the barriers after catching the damp kerb at Turn 3- the same corner that also claimed Alpine\u2019s Franco Colapinto and Kick Sauber\u2019s Nico H\u00fclkenberg. <\/p>\n
With his teammate failing to score, Norris\u2019 win gave him valuable breathing room in the title fight, moving nine points clear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kiwi Formula 1 driver Liam Lawson has secured seventh on the grid for the S\u00e3o Paulo Grand Prix…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125798,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[87487,8518,38645,9541,87488,87489,7191,87490,87491,87492,87493,49753,87494,134,527,87304,12592,19029,87495,3523,87496,87497,84097,50382,87498,87499,53942,41315,87500,111,43,139,87501,12908,69,87502,87503,87504,69007,87505,6842,87506,87507,87508,5143,87509,87510,3062],"class_list":["post-125797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-3-dimensional","tag-3d","tag-artwork","tag-biological","tag-coloured","tag-digitally-generated","tag-disease","tag-english-measles","tag-enveloped","tag-enveloped-rna-virus","tag-fusion-protein","tag-german","tag-haemagglutinin","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-infected","tag-infection","tag-infectious","tag-measles-virus","tag-medical","tag-micro-organism","tag-micro-organisms","tag-microbe","tag-microbes","tag-microbial","tag-microbiological","tag-microorganism","tag-microorganisms","tag-morbilli","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-no-one","tag-nobody","tag-nz","tag-paramyxoviridae","tag-paramyxovirus","tag-pathogenic","tag-pathogens","tag-pathological","tag-pathology","tag-respiratory-system-infection","tag-rubella","tag-rubeola","tag-viral","tag-virion","tag-virus-particle","tag-viruses"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}