F1: Liam Lawson frustrated with 15th place start for British Grand Prix

RNZ News

a day ago

Liam Lawson at the British Grand Prix.
Photo:
ANTONIN VINCENT
New Zealand Formula 1 driver Liam Lawson will start the British Grand Prix from 15th on the grid.
The Racing Bulls driver had issues with his tyres that prevented him progressing to the second qualifying session at Silverstone.
"A Q1 exit is really frustrating," Lawson said.
"Especially since we've had a fast car all weekend. Unfortunately, the drop in temperature meant we couldn't get the tyres up to the right temperature, I had no grip starting the lap and it didn't improve as the lap went on. It's a shame to throw away a Qualifying session like that.
"These tyres are very sensitive, but that's nothing new, and we should have handled it better.
"Starting from where we are, we'll need to consider an alternative strategy for tomorrow. Anything can happen, the weather here is unpredictable. We'll push for a top 10 finish, but it's going to be a tough race."
Red Bull's Max Verstappen timed his final lap perfectly to seize pole position, with McLaren's Formula 1 leader Oscar Piastri alongside on the front row.
Crowd favourite Lando Norris, Piastri's teammate and closest title rival, qualified third.
Mercedes' George Russell took fourth place on the grid and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, last year's race winner for a record ninth time, will start fifth in his first home grand prix in the Italian team's red overalls.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc lines up sixth, with the top five split by barely two tenths of a second on an overcast and windy afternoon.
"It was tricky out there with the wind… it was all shifting around a bit," said Verstappen after his fourth pole in 12 races but first since Miami in May. "These cars are extremely sensitive to it.
"That final lap was good enough. This is a proper track, in qualifying you have to go flat out. With these corners you have to be really committed and that's really enjoyable."
Verstappen is third overall in the standings, 61 points behind Piastri who leads Norris by 15, and chasing his third win of the campaign to make up for retirement in Austria last weekend.
Verstappen was also quickest in the first phase of qualifying, ahead of Piastri, but Hamilton went top in the second and looked like he could end a wait for pole dating back to Hungary 2023.
It was not to be, however, with Piastri taking provisional pole after the first flying laps before Verstappen put in a best of one minute 24.892 seconds - 0.103 quicker.
Norris was only 0.015 slower than Piastri.
"The first lap was mega, to be honest," said the Australian. "I was trying to think how I could go quicker and I didn't. The last lap was a little bit messy but it's been tight all weekend."
Norris said it had been an afternoon of small margins.
"I think it's going to be fun tomorrow. I think it's going to be a good battle between the three of us -- or probably more with Lewis, Charles and George," he added.
Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli qualified seventh but has a three- place grid penalty carried over from Austria as punishment for shunting Verstappen out on the opening lap.
That should have raised Oliver Bearman's Haas up to seventh but the Briton has a 10-place penalty for failing to respect red flags in final practice.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso will start seventh with Alpine's Pierre Gasly moving up to eighth and Carlos Sainz ninth for Williams with Antonelli 10th.
Franco Colapinto triggered red flags in the first phase when he careered off track and into the gravel in a cloud of tyre smoke and dust.
"I lost the rears. Probably touched a bump or something," said the Argentine.
He got going and extricated himself but had to stop before making it back to the pits. The session was halted for minor barrier repairs, to clear debris and recover the stricken Alpine.
Both the Saubers, Racing Bulls' Lawson and Aston Martin's Lance Stroll also failed to progress to phase two.
- RNZ / Reuters