Formula 1: Liam Lawson still processing Red Bull demotion after two races
After disappointing performances at the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix, Lawson was relegated to sister team Racing Bulls – and
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NZ Herald
5 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Formula 1: Liam Lawson qualifies in top 10 for Belgian Grand Prix, sets ninth-best time
Liam Lawson will start ninth at Formula One's Belgian Grand Prix, finishing inside the top 10 for the second time of the day at Spa-Francorchamps. Already with a 10th-placed finish, admittedly without points, in the 15-lap sprint race, Lawson advanced to the third and final qualifying session (Q3), on a
1News
20 hours ago
- 1News
Lawson 'frustrated' as he qualifies 11th for Belgian GP sprint
Kiwi F1 driver Liam Lawson was "a little bit frustrated" after qualifying 11th for the sprint race at the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend. The Racing Bulls driver narrowly missed out on SQ3, just under three tenths of a second behind Kick Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto. His teammate, Isack Hadjar, qualified ninth. After qualifying, Lawson expressed his frustration with the result. "It's just small margins, which is crazy around here because it's such a long lap." Lawson said the car had been fast and was on a lap that was "probably plenty good enough". ADVERTISEMENT "But [I] had a small issue in the last chicane, and it's just tiny things that make a difference, so it's knocked us out". Lawson said he would try to make up the three places needed to secure the points for the race, which starts at 10pm tonight. "We'll take the learnings from today and try to fix it for Quali tomorrow as well." Piastri beats Verstappen to pole as Red Bull's post-Horner era begins McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia steers his car during the sprint qualification ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium (Source: Associated Press) Oscar Piastri beat Max Verstappen to pole position as Red Bull began its first race weekend since the firing of Christian Horner as team principal. Red Bull has been the focus of attention in F1 after Horner's dismissal earlier this month, but Piastri, Verstappen and Lando Norris showed the title fight remains vibrant ahead of today's sprint. ADVERTISEMENT Piastri was at risk of being eliminated after straying off track in the second part of the session, but bounced back to take pole by .477 of a second from Red Bull's Verstappen, who split the two dominant McLarens by relegating Norris to third, .618 off the pace. 'The car's been mega all day,' Piastri said. 'This is a track I love, it's my favourite one of the year, and maybe that gave me a couple of extra tenths (of a second).' Norris' emotional win in the rain at the British Grand Prix cut Piastri's championship lead to eight points, while Piastri fumed at what he saw as the unfair penalty he received at Silverstone. Saturday was the first test of the Australian driver's vow to harness the 'frustration' he felt to win more races. And just like at Silverstone, rain could play a big part this weekend. It may affect both Saturday's sprint and the Grand Prix on Monday. Charles Leclerc was fourth for Ferrari, and Haas had a strong day with Esteban Ocon fifth and Oliver Bearman seventh. Yuki Tsunoda continued to struggle in the second Red Bull, qualifying 12th for the sprint, and it was a poor session for Mercedes, with George Russell 13th and Kimi Antonelli 20th. Red Bull uncertainty Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies, second left, during the first practice session ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Spa, Belgium (Source: Associated Press) ADVERTISEMENT Red Bull's new team principal, Laurent Mekies, says he hasn't been told why the company chose to fire Horner. Amid rampant speculation across Formula 1, Red Bull's parent company hasn't explained its reasons for removing Horner from his role after 20 years. Mekies said his appointment was 'a surprise for everyone'. 'We didn't get into the 'why?' and the 'why now?', but they outlined the sort of objectives they had for the team moving forward,' said Mekies, who is in charge of the team for the first time at the Belgian Grand Prix after moving up from sister team Racing Bulls. Mekies has been in contact with Horner, who he said was 'nothing else than supportive, even in the extremely difficult context'. One thing has stayed the same — Verstappen's future remains uncertain. The Dutch driver said Friday that Horner was like a 'second family' but that his removal wouldn't affect his plans. Verstappen said he still hoped to remain with Red Bull for the rest of his career but noted that 'life is unpredictable'. In an extra twist, Russell indicated to broadcaster Sky Sports on Friday that he believed Verstappen and Mercedes remained in talks. 'I'm sure Max wants a fast car, and if we get him a fast car, I'm sure it's cancelling out all the other considerations,' Mekies said Friday, adding that if that happens, it could be 'an easy call for Max." ADVERTISEMENT Hamilton in a spin Lewis Hamilton has declared it's 'crunch time' for him at Ferrari, but there was more disappointment for the British driver as he spun at the final chicane in sprint qualifying and finished 18th. The seven-time champion, yet to finish on the podium in a Grand Prix since joining Ferrari, revealed Thursday he's been setting up a series of meetings not just with top team personnel, but with Ferrari's corporate leadership. Hamilton is seeking 'structural adjustments' and to make sure his voice is part of Ferrari's development plans for 2026.
RNZ News
a day ago
- RNZ News
Piastri takes F1 sprint pole in Belgium; Lawson 11th
LAWSON Liam (nzl), Visa Cash App RB F1 Team VCARB02, portrait during the Formula 1 Qatar Airways British Grand Prix 2025, 12th round of the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship from July 4 to 6, 2025 on the Silverstone Circuit, in Silverstone, United Kingdom - Photo Antonin Vincent / DPPI Photo: ANTONIN VINCENT A "frustrated" Liam Lawson has qualified 11th fastest for the Belgian Grand Prix sprint race while Formula 1 championship leader Oscar Piastri drove to a dominant pole position. New Zealand's Lawson missed out on a place in the top 10 by just 0.041 seconds [ at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit] and blamed his exit in the second stage of qualifying on an "issue" late in his drive for Racing Bulls. "I'm a little bit frustrated. It's just small margins - which is crazy around here, because it's such a long lap," he said. "The car's been fast, I was on a lap that was plenty good enough, but had an issue in the last chicane. "It's the tiny things that make a difference, so this unfortunately knocked us out. Obviously we'll take the learnings from today and try to fix them ahead of tomorrow. "Like every other weekend, it's important that we extract every little bit out of the car. Wind changes make quite a big difference here, as it did a few weeks ago at Silverstone, but the key thing is to bring everything together as a team which is what we'll be pushing to do for the rest of the weekend." Lawson's best time of 1min 42.169sec was nearly a second and a half faster than what he achieved in practice, when he was 15th fastest. New Zealand driver Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls. Photo: ANTONIN VINCENT / PHOTOSPORT Piastri was nearly half a second faster than the field while his McLaren teammate and title rival Lando Norris qualified third. Red Bull's reigning champion Max Verstappen will join the Australian on the front row for the first race since Christian Horner was dismissed as team boss and replaced with Laurent Mekies. Piastri lapped in a track record time of one minute 40.510 seconds, a mighty 0.477 seconds quicker than Verstappen and 0.618 clear of Norris. The Australian, eight points clear of Norris at the top after 12 of 24 rounds, apologised over the radio for the scare of almost going out in the second phase when he had a lap deleted for exceeding track limits at Raidillon and was 10th. "Sorry for the heart attack. That wasn't in the plan," he said. "But that was mega. Nicely done, very nicely done." Piastri later described it as "a little scare" and attributed his speed to a simple love of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. "It's my favourite one of the year. Maybe that gave me a couple of extra tenths," he added. "When the car is handling as well as it is today, it's a pleasure. "I've had good confidence. I feel like the last few weekends have been good from a pace perspective but not so much from a results perspective." Oscar Piastri of McLaren F1 team. Photo: PHOTOSPORT Norris has won the last two races, at Silverstone because Piastri collected a 10-second penalty, but the Australian was quickest in Friday's sole practice at Spa. Verstappen said the lap was fine, but the gap big, and doubted his Red Bull's straight line speed could match the McLaren over the 100km distance at the longest track on the calendar. "When you're almost five tenths off, I don't think going faster or slower on the straight is going to matter a lot. We just have to do our own race and see what we can do," said the four-times world champion. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc starts fourth but teammate Lewis Hamilton will line up 18th after a difficult afternoon for the seven-times world champion, whose most recent win came at the same circuit last year with Mercedes. The Briton spun on his last flying lap while on course to go through, with the suspicion falling on a failure of the car's rear axle. "Obviously I'm massively frustrated," he said. Lewis Hamilton racing at Monaco, 2025. Photo: PHOTOSPORT George Russell, who finished first last year for Mercedes but was then disqualified for an underweight car, also struggled and qualified 13th. His rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli qualified last after a spin and run through the gravel. Esteban Ocon will start fifth for Haas with Carlos Sainz sixth for Williams and Oliver Bearman seventh for Haas in what could be a lively battle between the mid-table teams. Alpine's Pierre Gasly, Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar and Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto completed the top 10 with only the first eight scoring points. - RNZ/Reuters
