
Racing Bulls boss hails Lawson's 'near-perfect race' in Belgium
'Liam had a near-perfect race,' said Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane.
'He was strong and able to comfortably pull away from [Kick Sauber's] Bortoleto behind and was very happy with the car overall.'
Wet conditions at Spa-Francorchamps saw drivers begin the race behind a safety car, with the 23-year-old starting at ninth on the grid behind teammate Isack Hadjar.
Lawson overtook his fellow Racing Bulls driver on lap 12, allowing him to swap from wet to dry tyres a lap earlier than Hadjar.
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'It's always tricky when you cross over to a dry tyre when it's damp, but the car was fast and in clean air we had great pace,' said Lawson.
'Often in those conditions you just want to survive, so I'm very happy for the team and how everything came together.'
Lawson successfully pulled off a one-pit stop strategy on his way to securing points.
The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including wintry blast on the way, Gloriavale leader in court, and Liam Lawson picks up points. (Source: Breakfast)
His teammate Hadjar dropped to the bottom of the pack after technical issues forced a lack of pace and a second pit stop.
McLaren topped the table with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris taking out first and second respectively.
Lawson achieved his third points finish of the 2025 season and plans to keep his foot on the gas at next week's race in Hungary, ahead of a month-long break.
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'Now we need to keep the momentum rolling forward and make sure we enter the summer break on a high,' said Lawson.
Permane also expressed optimism about the upcoming race.
'It'll be much hotter, and we've got different tyres, but we expect our car to perform well there,' he said.

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Otago Daily Times
18 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Liam Lawson to start ninth at Hungarian Grand Prix
Charles Leclerc stunned favourites McLaren by seizing pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday, as Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton described himself as useless and suggested he should be replaced. Formula 1 leader Oscar Piastri joined Leclerc on the front row with McLaren teammate and title rival Lando Norris qualifying a close third in a session they had been expected to dominate. George Russell completed the second row for Mercedes. New Zealand's Liam Lawson put his Racing Bulls into ninth on the grid with team-mate Isack Hadjar beside him. "It's good to be in Q3, particularly given it's been quite a difficult weekend so far, so it was a great recovery," said Lawson. "Qualifying is important here and the car has been very good recently, particularly with our pace in the long runs." The pole was Ferrari's first of the season in a regular grand prix but the contrast between Hamilton and Leclerc was painful for the Briton, who took a sprint pole in Shanghai in March but qualified only 12th. "It's me every time," the seven-times world champion told Sky Sports television when explaining why he said "every time, every time" over the radio after failing to make the cut. "I'm useless, absolutely useless. "The team have no problem. You've seen the car's on pole," he added, referring to Leclerc's feat. "So we probably need to change driver." The Hungaroring was once Hamilton's domain, the driver enjoying an unrivalled record of eight wins and nine poles there, but he has yet to stand on a podium for Ferrari. Leclerc has had five top-three positions, although the Monegasque had to pinch himself at Saturday's entirely unexpected outcome. "Today, I don't understand anything in Formula 1," commented the driver, who exclaimed over the radio "What? Mamma Mia!" when told he was on pole by 0.026 of a second. "It's probably one of the best pole positions I've ever had. It's the most unexpected, for sure." The pole was his first since Azerbaijan last September. Piastri, 16 points clear of Norris in what looks like a two-horse race for the title, was almost as surprised after he and Norris were first and second after the first flying laps of the final shootout. McLaren had taken eight previous poles this season and qualified one-two in Hungary last time around. McLaren have also won 10 of 13 races so far, with six one-two finishes, but overtaking is not easy at the comparatively slow and twisty circuit outside Budapest. Leclerc now has a real chance of securing Ferrari's first win of 2025 if he can stave off the McLarens on Sunday, when rain is a possible complication. Behind the top four, Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll qualified fifth and sixth in a marked improvement for that team who had been last on the grid a weekend ago in Belgium. Brazilian rookie Gabriel Bortoleto will line up seventh for resurgent Sauber, the future Audi factory team, with reigning champion Max Verstappen eighth fastest for Red Bull. Verstappen's teammate Yuki Tsunoda failed to make it through the first phase - dropping out after his predecessor in the Red Bull seat Lawson went faster - and will start 16th. - RNZ/Reuters

RNZ News
18 hours ago
- RNZ News
F1: Charles Leclerc on Hungary pole, Liam Lawson makes top 10
Charles Leclerc of Ferrari Photo: Eric Alonso / photosport Charles Leclerc stunned favourites McLaren by seizing pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday as Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton described himself as useless and suggested he should be replaced. Formula 1 leader Oscar Piastri joined Leclerc on the front row with McLaren teammate and title rival Lando Norris qualifying a close third in a session they had been expected to dominate. George Russell completed the second row for Mercedes. New Zealand's Liam Lawson put his Racing Bulls into ninth on the grid with team-mate Isack Hadjar beside him. "It's good to be in Q3, particularly given it's been quite a difficult weekend so far, so it was a great recovery," said Lawson. "Qualifying is important here and the car has been very good recently, particularly with our pace in the long runs." The pole was Ferrari's first of the season in a regular grand prix but the contrast between Hamilton and Leclerc was painful for the Briton, who took a sprint pole in Shanghai in March but qualified only 12th. "It's me every time," the seven-times world champion told Sky Sports television when explaining why he said "every time, every time" over the radio after failing to make the cut. "I'm useless, absolutely useless. "The team have no problem. You've seen the car's on pole," he added, referring to Leclerc's feat. "So we probably need to change driver." The Hungaroring was once Hamilton's domain, the driver enjoying an unrivalled record of eight wins and nine poles there, but he has yet to stand on a podium for Ferrari. New Zealand F1 driver Liam Lawson. Photo: FLORENT GOODEN / PHOTOSPORT Leclerc has had five top-three positions, although the Monegasque had to pinch himself at Saturday's entirely unexpected outcome. "Today, I don't understand anything in Formula 1," commented the driver, who exclaimed over the radio "What? Mamma Mia!" when told he was on pole by 0.026 of a second. "It's probably one of the best pole positions I've ever had. It's the most unexpected, for sure." The pole was his first since Azerbaijan last September. Piastri, 16 points clear of Norris in what looks like a two-horse race for the title, was almost as surprised after he and Norris were first and second after the first flying laps of the final shootout. McLaren had taken eight previous poles this season and qualified one-two in Hungary last time around. McLaren have also won 10 of 13 races so far, with six one-two finishes, but overtaking is not easy at the comparatively slow and twisty circuit outside Budapest. Leclerc now has a real chance of securing Ferrari's first win of 2025 if he can stave off the McLarens on Sunday, when rain is a possible complication. Behind the top four, Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll qualified fifth and sixth in a marked improvement for that team who had been last on the grid a weekend ago in Belgium. Brazilian rookie Gabriel Bortoleto will line up seventh for resurgent Sauber, the future Audi factory team, with reigning champion Max Verstappen eighth fastest for Red Bull. Verstappen's teammate Yuki Tsunoda failed to make it through the first phase - dropping out after his predecessor in the Red Bull seat Lawson went faster - and will start 16th. - Reuters / RNZ


NZ Herald
a day ago
- NZ Herald
Formula 1: Liam Lawson qualifies inside top 10 again, to start ninth at Hungarian Grand Prix
Hungary marks just the second time Lawson has bettered Hadjar in qualifying, with the only previous time resulting in his career-best finish of sixth in Austria. And, as was the case with Monaco earlier this year when Lawson finished eighth, Hungary's tight nature and low speed corners makes overtaking increasingly difficult. In the build-up to this weekend's grand prix, Lawson himself highlighted qualifying as the area he needs to improve the most. As the clock began ticking in Q1, none of the 20 drivers immediately left their garage to set an early lap time, even with the threat of rain, as clouds came in to help cool the track down from over 50 degrees. With just over 12 minutes left in the session, Lawson emerged from pit lane, and set a first timed lap of 1m 16.350s, good enough for ninth place at the time, with drivers still yet to cross the finish line on their starting efforts. By the time all 20 drivers had set a timed lap, Lawson was 14th, and 0.225s clear of the drop zone. When he returned for his last laps of Q1, Lawson's gap to elimination had been cut to 0.119s, with the cooling track seeing more and more drivers improve on their times. Williams' Carlos Sainz and Alpine's Pierre Gasly both improved their times, which pushed Lawson down to 17th by the time he started his final lap, as the Kiwi improved his lap time to 1m 15.849s to advance in 14th, at the expense of Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda, by just 0.50s. Liam Lawson arrives at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Photo / Red Bull Into Q2, and there was no delay in seeing cars immediately leave the pits, as rain started to fall over parts of the track. With that in mind, Lawson's first lap in Q2, 1m 16.156s, was enough for ninth by the time the 15 remaining drivers had set their first lap, 0.045s clear of elimination, ahead of both Ferrari cars. As the session wound down, though, the rain over turn six dissipated, Lawson was one of the first cars to return for his last laps of Q2. That, though, left him vulnerable to the track improving for the drivers who had started later than he had. Those fears didn't eventuate, though, as Lawson's final Q2 time of 1m 15.630s saw him advance to Q3 for the second week in succession, safe by 0.057s, and 0.072s clear of Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton in 12th. With 12 minutes to push for as high a place on the starting grid as possible, Lawson managed 1m 16.649s on his first timed lap, which while slower than his best effort in Q2, was enough for seventh, before improving for one last time gave him ninth. The Hungarian Grand Prix begins at 1am on Monday (NZ time), as the final race before Formula One's month-long summer break. Hungarian Grand Prix starting grid Charles Leclerc - Ferrari Oscar Piastri - McLaren Lando Norris - McLaren George Russell - Mercedes Fernando Alonso - Aston Martin Lance Stroll - Aston Martin Gabriel Bortoleto - Sauber Max Verstappen - Red Bull Liam Lawson - Racing Bulls Isack Hadjar - Racing Bulls Ollie Bearman - Haas Lewis Hamilton - Ferrari Carlos Sainz - Williams Franco Colapinto - Alpine Kimi Antonelli - Mercedes Yuki Tsunoda - Red Bull Pierre Gasly - Alpine Esteban Ocon - Haas Nico Hulkenberg - Sauber Alex Albon - Williams Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.