Liam Lawson qualified third for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, marking his best starting position so far in Formula 1 and a chance to take important points.
Lawson began his first full F1 season in the Red Bull seat alongside Max Verstappen. However, it wasn’t long before the Kiwi found himself demoted to Red Bull’s sister team, Racing Bulls.
There, Lawson has consistently outperformed by his rookie teammate, Isack Hadjar. Hadjar currently sits ninth in the F1 drivers’ standings with 38 points, while Lawson is in 15th with 20 points.
The Frenchman has bested Lawson on all fronts and took his maiden podium in Hungary, but now the Kiwi hopes to have the same success starting on the second row in Baku.
“It was a good session. It’s been a good weekend so far. It’s been very tricky, though,” he said after qualifying.
“I think that quali was one of the toughest ones we’ve probably experienced, trying to keep putting out laps, especially when the rain’s coming down.
“The amount of red flags that there were as well, it was definitely a challenge. But the car’s been good, honestly, all week and we’ve just been fine tuning and I think it was in the right place.”
Lawson divuldged how hard it is as a driver to put a lap together when the session has as many red flags as Baku had.
“But when a session’s like that, honestly, it’s more down to just putting a lap together and making sure that you have good track position, you don’t get caught out by these red flags.”
Lawson confident of pushing the limits in Azerbaijan
While Lawson is starting on the second row, the McLarens and Ferraris both start behind him, limiting his expectations for the final result.
“It’s really hard to know, but obviously we’d love to stay where we are.” He said.
“But obviously we’re aware of the guys that we’re racing as well and know that there’s some quicker guys behind us. So yeah, we’ll try and obviously have a good start. That’s the first thing.”
Lawson remained hopeful regarding his long run pace after how the VCARB 02 felt in the practice sessions.
“I think our long run pace was OK, but honestly, when the conditions are as windy as they were today, it changes everything. So yeah, let’s see.”
Baku rewards bravery, but it’s a fine line between risk and reward, with the close walls attracting names like Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri into them during qualifying.
Lawson spoke about the balance between caution and confidence, noting that he will have to tow a line between the two.
“I think for us in this position, I think obviously when it’s this chaotic where personally, I’m going to obviously try and on a straight circuit anyway, you have to obviously push the limits,” he said.
“Sometimes if you push a little bit harder, you can get rewarded. But obviously, it’s very easy to crash here as well.
“So I think through quali, you’re managing it, trying to obviously drive good laps, but keep everything together and learn as much as you can with the wind and everything like that.
“But at the same time, with how much it’s changing, you start a new lap and it’s completely new, the feeling of the car, different corners.
“And it can be really confusing, but yeah, it just means especially such a long lap, it’s very challenging for us.
Lawson notes change in approach to tackle Baku
Alan Permane, the Racing Bulls Team Principal, noted how in Monza, the team failed to maximise their qualifying performance, which left them fighting back up through the pack.
Coming into Azerbaijan, they changed their approach. “I think we fuelled for the whole session and just kept driving around.
“So yeah, we made a mistake in Monza and took a little bit of a risk, but we knew the car was fast.
“But just with how close it is here, you can still be fast and have something happen and get knocked out. So today, with everything that was going on and the conditions, we played it a bit safer and we maximised laps on track.
“We probably completed three or four laps, but spent the entire qualifying when it was green pretty much on the track. So obviously today it worked for us.”
Lawson is competing with Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hajdar for the Red Bull seat for 2026, and converting a second row start to a podium, or at least very near, would be the perfect show the team why he deserves the seat.
“It’s good to have these results. For me personally, it’s been something that has been tough, especially this year, especially early in the season.
“I think when everybody’s, it’s been very, very close this year.
“But personally, we just had a lot of stuff sort of going on earlier in the year that was making qualifying more difficult.
“It wasn’t, definitely wasn’t a strong point. So it’s important for me more than anything.
“Obviously, it helps these performances, but we need more than one, you know, we need to keep the consistency and also points are more important as well tomorrow and the races.”
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