Starting 11th for tonight’s Sprint Race after just ten laps in a new car then straight into qualifying for the 2026 Dutch Grand Prix needs to be put in context.
“Zandvoort is quite a tricky track,” commented Red Bull Racing technical director Pierre Waché. “Not only due to the layout but also due to the conditions that you have here. The track is quite dirty, very windy and the conditions are changing more or less every run.
“We started FP1 a little bit on the back foot with a different tyre to the other competitors.
“Hard (tyre) at the beginning then just one lap on softs, just to see how the car reacts with a little bit more grip.
“We saw that we are not extracting the grip on the tyre in the right window. Also the car balance with the wind and the impact on the car, lap after lap.
“Liam did a fantastic job jumping in a car he doesn’t know, ten laps in the car then to SQ2. It’s a good learning for tomorrow.”
The New Zealander was drafted in from his Visa Cash App Racing Bull’s team at short notice to replace the injured Isack Hadjar alongside Max Verstappen. After SQ1 he was sixth fastest beating Verstappen by a tenth and a half. However, Lawson was unable to maintain the same progression in SQ2 and missed the top 10 with VCARB teammate Arvid Lindblad jumping into ninth in the closing stages.
“Obviously it’s been an interesting day,” said Lawson. “Normally you’d sort of improve through quali. And we started SQ1 quite strong.
“And then we didn’t make the same step that everybody else did. Obviously we’ll look into it. There’s a lot to learn today. But so far I feel quite good in the car.
“I was feeling okay through quali. I thought we’d get through. So it’s a shame.”
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