By Alex Powell in Melbourne
Liam Lawson will begin Formula One’s new era with a top 10 start after setting the eighth fastest time in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix.
On a Melbourne track where the Kiwi started 18th and failed to finish this time last year, Lawson reached the third and final session of qualifying (Q3) and will back himself for points in his de facto home race.
With new regulations in place dictating how teams can build their cars and on-track performance, Racing Bulls appear to have a package similar to what they produced in 2025, when they and earned the best finish in the team’s history.
Lawson’s best lap, 1m 19.994s, was 1.253s quicker than junior teammate Arvid Lindblad, who will start ninth after an impressive beginning to his Formula One career.
Promisingly, Lawson showed impressive pace in the third and final practice session of the weekend on hard tyres, which are expected to be used during the bulk of Sunday’s race.
After so much talk and speculation over how teams would stack up against each other, qualifying gave the first real indication of 2026’s pecking order.
As expected, Mercedes set the pace as George Russell claimed pole position with a time of 1m 18.518s, followed by teammate Kimi Antonelli 0.293s back.
Antonelli’s display was all the more incredible for the work of Mercedes’ mechanics, who managed to repair his car in two hours after a crash in the final practice session.
Four-time world champion Max Verstappen will start 20th of 22 cars because he was unable to set a competitive lap time in Q1 after leaving the track and crashing at turn one. Lawson’s former teammate Isack Hadjar, meanwhile, was third.
Reigning champion Lando Norris of McLaren starts sixth, 0.957s back from Russell, while teammate Oscar Piastri is fifth in his home race. Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton will begin fourth and seventh.
However, fears the new regulations will lead to a diluted product on track might prove to be well placed, with Russell’s pole time significantly slower than the 1m 15.096s set by Norris a year ago.
After finishing outside the top 10 despite impressive pace in all three practice sessions, Lawson’s first time in Q1, 1m 21.3s, had him temporarily in second. That time, though, was slower than he’d posted in practice.
He was unable to better that in his first stint on track, and returned to the garage with a 2.267s buffer between elimination. Once back on track, Lawson improved his time to 1m 20.599s and moved back inside the top 10 and 2.968s clear of the drop.
Verstappen’s exit, combined with Carlos Sainz of Williams and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll not being able to set times, effectively left three spots for elimination in the bottom six, as Lawson improved again to 1m 20.599s and advanced ninth from Q1, 0.082s behind his teammate.
Lawson’s time improved again in Q2 with the first push lap to 1m 20.144s, leaving him eighth and 0.357s clear of elimination with five minutes remaining. While he couldn’t improve, the Kiwi advanced with 0.159s to spare.
Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto failed to return to the pits after Q2 and that guaranteed Lawson would start ninth at the least.
After a brief delay to Q3, caused by debris from Antonelli’s Mercedes being left on the track and triggering another red flag, the remaining nine drivers returned to determine their starting spots.
The two Racing Bulls cars were the last out of the garage, leaving Lawson just under a minute to set a competitive time once he’d completed his build lap and he managed to pip his teammate at the last chance by 1.253s.
The Australian Grand Prix begins at 5pm on Sunday (NZT).
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.