A happy Visa Cash App Racing Bull’s driver Liam Lawson will start from eighth on the grid for the Barcelona-Catalunya F1 Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain. Teammate Arvid Lindblad will start from 11th after a technical issue.
“I’m pretty happy with today,” commented Lawson. “We had a really strong Qualifying session and managed to put together a solid lap when it mattered most.
“Our pace has been slightly better than we expected, which is encouraging, and now the focus is on continuing to build on that heading into tomorrow. There’s a great opportunity to add more points to the board, but it won’t be straightforward.
“The race is going to be tough with the high tyre degradation around this circuit, so managing the tyres and executing everything correctly will be key. We’ll keep our heads down, focus on our job, and see what we can achieve.”
“The car has shown strong pace so far on this high-speed circuit, following a similarly competitive performance at recent lower-speed tracks,” said VCARB Head of Trackside Engineering Mattia Spini. “It gives us confidence that the package is working well across very different circuit characteristics.
“Yesterday, our short-run pace looked good, but we saw higher tyre degradation than expected during the long runs, so the overnight work focused on improving our race performance.
“In FP3, the programme was centred on Qualifying preparation. We made some final set-up adjustments across sessions, and both drivers delivered competitive first laps in Q1, which allowed us to save a new set of tyres for Q2, when maximum performance was needed to progress into Q3.
“Unfortunately, Arvid had a technical issue that prevented him from completing his second attempt in Q2. Liam made it through to Q3, where he ran only on used tyres, saving a new Soft for the race. He did a strong job to qualify at the front of the midfield, ahead of Hülkenberg, who was on the same tyre strategy.
“Our focus now turns to the race. We expect it to be a demanding one for both drivers and engineers. Managing tyre degradation while maintaining competitive pace will be key, but we have both cars in a position to fight for points.”
Mercedes’ George Russell took pole ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and championship leader Kimi Antonelli.
Starting Grid
1/ George Russell Mercedes 01:14.679
2/ Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 01:14.743
3/ Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 01:14.998
4/ Lando Norris McLaren 01:15.001
5/ Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 01:15.021
6/ Isack Hadjar Red Bull Racing 01:15.077
7/ Oscar Piastri McLaren 01:15.090
8/ Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 01:16.542
9/ Nico Hulkenberg Audi 01:16.657
10/ Charles Leclerc Ferrari
11/ Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls 01:15.840
12/ Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 01:16.001
13/ Franco Colapinto Alpine 01:16.191
14/ Pierre Gasly Alpine 01:16.261
15/ Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team 01:16.389
16/ Carlos Sainz Williams 01:17.827
17/ Esteban Ocon Haas F1 Team 01:17.073
18/ Alexander Albon Williams 01:17.424
19/ Sergio Perez Cadillac 01:17.545
20/ Valtteri Bottas Cadillac 01:17.757
21/ Lance Stroll Aston Martin 01:18.758
22/ Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 01:18.815
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