Liam Lawson again battling to make gains in F1
Liam Lawson of New Zealand and Racing Bulls during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Austria at Red Bull Ring on June 27, 2025 in Spielberg, Austria.
Photo:
GUENTHER IBY
Lando Norris has led Formula 1 leader Oscar Piastri in a McLaren one-two in the second practice for the Austrian Grand Prix, after George Russell went fastest for Mercedes in the opening session.
Norris had handed his car to Alex Dunne for an impressive F1 practice debut for the Irish rookie and Formula Two leader, but the Briton was right up to speed as soon as he got back behind the wheel.
After Russell's best of one minute 05.542 seconds in the early afternoon, Norris - 22 points behind Piastri in the title battle after 10 of 24 races - lapped in 1:04.580 with Piastri 0.157 slower.
Red Bull's reigning champion Max Verstappen, a five-times winner at his team's home circuit, was the only other driver under the five second mark with a 1:04.898.
Russell, winner from pole position in Canada two weeks ago after the McLarens collided, was sixth in practice two with Lance Stroll a surprise fourth for Aston Martin and Charles Leclerc fifth for Ferrari.
Verstappen was without regular race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase for the weekend due to personal reasons with Simon Rennie taking over.
Dunne, given track time as part of team obligations to give rookie drivers F1 experience, was the talk of the first session when he lapped fourth fastest and only 0.069 slower than Piastri.
Still only 19 and the first Irish driver in 22 years to take part in a grand prix weekend, he thanked the team over the radio as the chequered flag fell.
"A little boy's dream came true, and this is definitely the best day of my life," he said. "Thank you everyone for letting me do this, and thanks to Lando as well for trusting me with his car."
New Zealand F1 driver Liam Lawson.
Photo:
MPS AGENCY / PHOTOSPORT
New Zealand's Liam Lawson meantime, posted the 15th fastest time in the first session, and then the 12th fastest time in the second session.
Lawson's Racing Bulls boss, teamn principal Laurent Mekies, says Lawson's getting there.
"I think we now all agree that jumping into a car mid-season is going to be difficult regardless of where you are on the pit lane and I think we have to give him time to get used to the car.
"But what we see is that the speed is there. He may not yet be putting it together when it matters but we are trying everything we can to support him," Mekies said.
The final practice session is late tonight New Zealand time, with qualifying to follow early in the morning.
The race will be at 1am on Monday.
-
Reuters
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
1News
an hour ago
- 1News
F1: Liam Lawson energised to perform in Austrian GP
Liam Lawson and Racing Bulls are likely to face similar issues they had in Canada a fortnight ago when they take on the Austrian F1 Grand Prix this weekend. Racing Bulls were well out of the points in Montreal and the team will hopefully have fixed any issues in the time since. Racing Bulls admitted they lacked pace to challenge for the top 10 in Canada with team principal Laurent Mekies hoping they could change that in time for Austria after some work back at the team base in Britain. Lawson's cause wasn't helped when he was forced to start from the pit lane after the team made some changes to his power unit. Unfortunately, cooling issues forced him to retire late in the race. He can only hope the car is at its best because Red Bull Ring is a unique circuit where the margins become even finer. ADVERTISEMENT It is one of the shortest and fastest circuits on the calendar with drivers completing a lap in just over a minute. It has just 10 corners, but has three DRS zones allowing for overtaking. The downforce setting becomes critical to balance the speed of the straights and the grip needed on the fast corners. Lawson has raced there in junior categories. "I've really enjoyed the track but, obviously in F1, it will bring an entirely new pressure," Lawson said. "I'm coming into this weekend with fresh energy following Canada and am ready to fight for points with the team." Both Lawson and Isack Hadjar have spent a lot of time in the simulator since Canada, while chief technical officer Tim Goss said they'll "take forward some further setup adjustments to maximise the car's capabilities". ADVERTISEMENT Qualifying will again be the key to picking up points. Lawson has made the third part of qualifying just once this season and that was in Monaco when he went on to grab his only points. Meanwhile, Red Bull have confirmed that British youngster Arvid Lindblad will get his first grand prix weekend outing at the British GP at Silverstone next week. The 17-year-old obtained his FIA Superlicence earlier this month. Lindblad, who won the Formula Regional Oceania Championship in New Zealand last summer and currently races in F2, will be involved during Friday practice at Silverstone. Until now, Ayumu Iwasa has been the only reserve driver for both Red Bull and Racing Bulls.
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
The highs and lows of driving with a disability
disability arts 43 minutes ago Learning to drive is a rite of passage for many, symbolising freedom and independence. But everyone knows that learning to drive, comes with some hair raising, white knuckle moments, and the new TV series called License to Drive has plenty of them. Sweet Productions co-producers Robyn Paterson and Jai Productions co-producers Robyn Paterson and Jai Waite. Photo: Sweet Productions Sure to have audiences on the edge of their seats, the series provides an intimate, often laugh out loud look at the journey undertaken by a group of disabled New Zealanders from all walks of life learning to drive. Filmed around the motu, each episode follows learner drivers - alongside their driving instructors, as they experience the emotional highs and lows of getting behind the wheel. Some are nervous first-timers, others are coming back from a life-changing injury and must entirely re-learn to drive using different parts of their body. Mathias Bridgman is one of the learner drivers on the show, he's been learning to drive with his feet. We're also joined by series producer Jai White from Sweet Productions, a former Wheel Black, turned TV producer.
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
New documentary explores one of the most turbulent periods in All Black history
This week marks the 30th anniversary of the most iconic and transcendent game of rugby ever played. Unfortunately for the All Blacks, it was one they lost. The 1995 Rugby World Cup final , won 15-12 by the Springboks after extra time, has gone down as the day that the new nation of South Africa was born. The truth is a little bit more complicated than that, but New Zealand's memories of it generally revolve around Jonah Lomu and Suzy the Waitress. Frank Bunce in action during the final of the Rugby World Cup between the All Blacks and South Africa in 1995. Photo: Photosport Sky Sport are filling a rare rugby-free Saturday evening with Back From The End Of The World , a documentary about the All Blacks' journey through a very turbulent period leading up to the World Cup. It's told very much from coach Laurie Mains' point of view, as well as players like Ian Jones, Eric Rush and Frank Bunce, and takes its name from the famous French try that handed the All Blacks their last defeat on Eden Park way back in 1994. Back From The End Of The World certainly does its best to hit all the right nostalgic buttons, with enough time passed between then and now to elicit some refreshing honesty from the infamously tight-lipped All Black environment. You have to remember that the World Cup was only one part of the dramatic situation rugby found itself in at the time, with the game hurtling towards professionalism and everyone trying to get their hands on the wheel. Here's a look back at what was happening: Jonah Lomu and Sean Fitzpatrick. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/Photosport If you think the last few years of All Black rugby was up and down, Mains' tenure as coach was a real rollercoaster. He started with a shock loss to the World XV, had the Bledisloe Cup bounce back and forth across the Tasman every season and lost to England for only the third time ever. On the other hand, they won series' against the Springboks and British Lions in consecutive years and won at Ellis Park. In order to get the All Blacks fit enough to play the style of game he wanted, Mains put the players through a hellish fitness regime across three training camps. Days would usually involve six hours of team training, followed by fitness sessions. "The only way I could get them fit to the level we want was if I was controlling it and not their provincial coaches," said Mains. "We said 'at the end of these camps, some of the players will fall by the wayside and it'll make our selections easier'." All the while, the constant narrative was whether Mains should be coach at all. John Hart had been publicly lobbying for sole charge of the job after being a co-coach in 1991, and it felt like everyone had an opinion of the matter. It didn't quite reach the same sort of drama as when Ian Foster was competing against Scott Robertson, but it wasn't far off. Jonah Lomu and Eric Rush. Photo: supplied "We desperately wanted Jonah and we were going to do everything we could in our power to get him up to the fitness levels required," said Mains. "I included Fitzy [captain Sean Fitzpatrick] in the discussions I had with [assistant coaches] Earle Kirton and Brian Lochore, who both said 'he's not ready to play in a World Cup for the All Blacks. Within a quarter of an hour, Eric Rush and Olo Brown both came to me and said we'll take Jonah running and make him work." Lomu's teammates' support and encouragement meant he was able to gain selection and become the most iconic player in the game's history. Right now we're trying to predict who will start in the 10 jersey next weekend between Beauden Barrett and Damian McKenzie, two players that have almost 200 caps worth of experience between them. Andrew Mehrtens had one by the time the World Cup started, a selection that would be utterly unthinkable now. "It was getting pretty desperate… We were so lucky one just fell into our lap" admitted Mains. Back From The End Of The World wisely skips over the main controversy of the World Cup, with Mains thankfully not quoted on a matter that saw him launch a private investigation at his own expense. The story of Suzy the Waitress has been done to death and it's quite clear from the players ever since that they believe it was a simple case of food poisoning rather than anything nefarious.
