Lawson to build on Miami momentum as F1 returns to Imola

NZ Autocar

16-05-2025

After a well-earned two-week break, Liam Lawson is back on track this weekend. He heads to the historic Imola Circuit for Round 7 of the 2025 Formula One World Championship — the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Lawson arrives in Italy fresh off his most encouraging weekend of the season in Miami. There he showed real promise despite limited preparation. Despite having never driven a lap around the tricky street circuit before the sole Practice session, the 23-year-old Kiwi adapted quickly. He finished just outside the Top 10 in 11th.
Sprint Qualifying didn't quite go to plan. He did well to make it through to SQ2, he couldn't quite piece together a lap good enough for SQ3. Therefore, he lined up 14th for the Sprint. When Saturday's race finally got underway in the wet, he made a lightning start, jumping five spots. Liam Lawson during the Miami Sprint Race. Image: Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool
From there, he kept charging, climbing to eighth at the flag. He was later promoted to seventh following a penalty for Max Verstappen. That result looked to have sealed Liam's first points of the season. However, a post-race penalty for a tangle with Fernando Alonso cruelly dropped him back to 13th.
In Grand Prix Qualifying, he again showed flashes of pace — a strong banker lap in Q1 comfortably saw him through to the next phase, though a single flyer in Q2 left him starting 15th. Sadly, his Sunday didn't last long, with contact from Jack Doohan at Turn 1 causing heavy damage and eventually forcing him to retire.
While the ending in Miami was far from ideal, the overall performance marked a real step forward, so there's every reason to be optimistic heading to Imola.
Not only is it the home track of the VCARB squad, it's also a place Lawson knows well. He has logged plenty of laps there in Red Bull's testing programme over the past few years. He also raced at Imola in Formula 2 back in 2022, so he'll be returning with a solid base of experience under his belt. Liam Lawson and Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar. Image: Sebastian Nevols / Red Bull Content Pool
This weekend also brings a return to the traditional Formula One format — three Practice sessions, followed by Qualifying and Sunday's Grand Prix. That should give him plenty of time to get acclimatised to the VCARB 02 before cracking into Qualifying.
Lawson's weekend begins with Free Practice 1 tonight at 11:30 pm NZT. You can catch all the sessions live on Sky Sport or the F1 TV App. And, as always, we'll keep you updated across our socials throughout the weekend.
Header Image: Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool