Liam Lawson has recovered from crashing in both FP2 and FP3 session to make it through to Q2 in qualifying for the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix. The Kiwi set the 14th fastest time while Visa Cash App Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar starts from P8. With the disqualification of both Williams drivers from qualifying due to a rear wing infringement, Lawson will start from P12. Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz placed 12th and 13th in Saturday night’s session and will now start from the rear of the grid. Mercedes driver George Russell starts from pole position with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen alongside.
“The team have done an amazing job to get the car ready in time for Qualifying, I can’t thank them enough,” commented Lawson. “I made it very difficult for myself by missing laps across two practices, however through Qualifying things were looking okay.
“I drove slower on the new tyre than I did on the used at the end, so it’s something we’ll need to look into. The car has felt fast, but it will be pretty tough to overtake tomorrow, so I’ll continue to work super hard to pull everything together for the race.”
“An excellent Qualifying session from the team under the lights of Singapore today,” said Tim Goss, Racing Bulls Chief Technical Officer. “The car worked well right from the start of the event, and our engineers have steadily built on this platform to adapt the car balance as the track gripped up, and to understand how to get the most out of the Soft compound tyre on the first Qualifying push lap.
“The mechanics did a fantastic job to rebuild Liam’s car in time for the start of Qualifying. Although Liam negotiated it out of Q1 reasonably comfortably, the lack of track time in the practice sessions put him at a slight disadvantage in the more competitive Q2 and he qualified 14th.
“Isack delivered on our first mission of the weekend and qualified in 8th ahead of all our main competitors in the Constructors Championship. It was a really close session, and had he put in the perfect lap, we felt we could have out-qualified the Ferrari’s ahead of us. This ambition is a measure of how much our car and the drivers have progressed, and it gives us good confidence for the race tomorrow.”
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