Formula One journalist Chris Medland speaks to Mike Hosking about Red Bull’s handling of Liam Lawson. Video / Newstalk ZB
Liam Lawson has achieved his best Formula One qualifying position of 2025 and will start ninth at the Monaco Grand Prix.
The Racing Bulls driver is the best chance for a points finish as he’s been this year so far, given the narrow nature of the Circuit de Monaco making overtaking on track nigh on impossible.
Lawson had only advanced to Q3 twice in his career previously, coming at Singapore in 2023 and Brazil last year.
And having shown pace all weekend, Lawson can hope to finish in the points for the first time since that Brazil race, provided there are no major incidents over the course of the Grand Prix.
“Coming into the weekend, I think I would have been happy with [reaching] Q3,” said Lawson after qualifying.
“But the car’s been pretty quick, especially in P2 and P3. We were very strong. To be honest, I think we missed a little bit in quali. That’s a bit of a shame.
“We got traffic as well, but this place is always full of that. It feels like we missed out a little bit, but a strong quali for the team.
“With the new rules, it’s going to be interesting anyway, so we’ll be trying to plan the best we can.
“The most important part, I would say, of the weekend is done. We’re in a decent position, and the car is fast.
“We just need to optimise it tomorrow.”
McLaren’s Lando Norris claimed his second pole position of the season, and set a new track record with a lap of 1m 9.954s, which condemned Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to start second in his home race, looking to make it two victories in as many years.
World championship leader Oscar Piastri will start third and was 0.175s back from his teammate, while Leclerc’s Ferrari teammate Sir Lewis Hamilton had completed the second row in fourth, only to be penalised for impeding Max Verstappen.
Current world champion Verstappen instead starts fourth, while Lawson’s Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar is fifth, 0.969s back from Norris.
Make no mistake, the Monaco Grand Prix is a race where qualifying holds more significance than any other circuit on the Formula One grid.
More often than not, a driver’s best lap in qualifying is more significant than any of the 78 to be raced in the Grand Prix.
Liam Lawson in practice for Formula One's Monaco Grand Prix. Photo / Red Bull
That’s why the FIA - the sport’s governing body - has gone to the lengths of dictating drivers must undertake at least two pit stops and make use of three sets of tyre compounds during the race.
Just what effect that has, though, will be seen in the Grand Prix.
Lawson can take confidence from his displays at Monaco in Formula Two, where he claimed an initial victory in the sprint race, before it was stripped for an illegal throttle map. On that occasion, though, Lawson finished ahead of Piastri, before he lost his result.
Taking to the track off the back of two top-10 finishes from three practices, Lawson temporarily set the fastest time in Q1, clocking a first mark of 1m 12.946s.
And while that mark understandably didn’t stand as the fastest time for long, Lawson was able to progress with the 12th-fastest time in Q1, 1m 11.818s, after Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli hit the barrier at turn 11 to trigger a red flag.
The Kiwi continued to improve into Q2 and posted a first time of 1m 11.646s to temporarily move second behind Leclerc, before Mercedes suffered another blow when George Russell lost power and caused another red flag as he too was forced to retire.
Once the session resumed, Lawson improved even further with a best lap of 1m 11.250s, however that placed him ninth – and at risk of elimination. But Mercedes’ retirements and three other drivers failing to better his time had Lawson advance to Q3 without any real issue.
One of those drivers was Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda, who missed out on Q3 by 0.153s, after replacing Lawson in the senior team after just two races earlier this year.
At no risk of elimination, Lawson was able to set a time of 1m 11.129s in Q3, but ultimately finished 1.175s off Norris – and 0.206s back from Hadjar.
And while Racing Bulls can take pride from having both cars finish in the top 10, Lawson will still have one eye on bettering Hadjar once the lights go out.
Earlier, Lawson continued his impressive displays from Friday practice by clocking the seventh-fastest time in the final session before qualifying.
Fresh from being the quickest of the four Red Bull-affiliated cars in FP2, Lawson was second only to Verstappen in FP3, and managed a best lap of 1m 11.814s, 0.861s off the pace set by Leclerc.
That time saw Lawson improve on his FP2 mark by nine milliseconds and showed the Kiwi was continuously improving throughout the race weekend. Lawson logged another 33 laps in the third and final practice, the most by any of the 20 drivers on the grid.
In comparison, Hadjar finished FP3 in 17th, 0.457s back from his teammate. However, Hadjar was also prevented from setting a final push lap after Hamilton hit the wall to trigger a red flag, and prematurely end the session.
The Monaco Grand Prix begins at 1am on Monday (NZT).
Monaco Grand Prix starting grid
Lando Norris – McLaren
Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
Oscar Piastri – McLaren
Max Verstappen – Red Bull
Isack Hadjar – Racing Bulls
Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin
Sir Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari
Esteban Ocon – Haas
Liam Lawson – Racing Bulls
Alex Albon – Williams
Carlos Sainz – Williams
Yuki Tsunoda – Red Bull
Nico Hulkenberg – Sauber
George Russell – Mercedes
Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes
Gabriel Bortoleto – Sauber
Pierre Gasly – Alpine
Franco Colapinto – Alpine
Lance Stroll – Aston Martin
Ollie Bearman – Haas
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.
