“It’s positive,” said Lawson. “It’s close, as usual, at the moment.
“Personally, it’s been a fun day. It’s a cool track. It’s been a place I’ve wanted to come to for a long time. I enjoyed it.
“It’s just very, very close. We need to keep pushing the limit and finding every bit of speed we can.
“It’s quite a small circuit, but we’re all in the same boat – we have to deal with it.
“The car’s been very, very strong recently. As long as we keep chasing the balance through the weekend like we are, it’s possible [to get two cars into Q3].
“But we’ll see tomorrow.”
It was also a case of honours even between Lawson and Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar. While the 20-year-old Frenchman took sixth place in FP1 and was 0.106s faster than the Kiwi, Lawson finished FP2 one place above Hadjar, and was 0.048s faster.
Interestingly, neither of the two Racing Bulls cars completed any laps on a hard tyre, which will likely be used in Monday’s race.
World champion Max Verstappen finished FP2 just 0.085s faster than Lawson in ninth. Meanwhile, McLaren’s Lando Norris set the second-best time of FP2 and world championship leader Oscar Piastri was sixth, 0.439s off Russell’s pace.
Lawson was the last driver on track in FP2 but was immediately met with a yellow flag after Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll hit the wall and lost his front left wheel, which led to him being scratched from the session.
Once he was able to set a lap, though, Lawson posted a mark of 1m 13.846s and sat 16th after his first run of FP2, which was on medium tyres. As for Hadjar, he was fourth after his first run on the same compound, 0.795s faster than Lawson.
In his second stint, Lawson fitted a set of softs and improved his best lap time to 1m 13.189s, but was still 0.390s off Hadjar, who posted a 1m 12.799s.
Lawson did well to avoid a collision at turn six, as Franco Colapinto’s Alpine slowed in front of him into the corner. With less than half an hour in the second session to go, Lawson complained of being blocked on track despite moving back inside the top 10.
Neither Lawson nor Hadjar have raced in Canada before, with the Montreal circuit a rarity on the calendar in the Formula Two and Formula Three junior categories.
Even with their inexperience in Montreal, both Racing Bulls drivers can take solace from the 2024 Canadian Grand Prix, where Daniel Ricciardo qualified fifth and finished eighth after the 68-lap race.
Earlier, Lawson logged the eighth-fastest time in FP1, crossing the line with a best mark of 1m 13.737s.
Lawson’s best effort was 0.544s off Verstappen, who led the way with 1m 13.393s, while Williams’ pair of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz were second and third respectively.
His best time in FP1 was also 0.461s faster than Piastri, and was 0.086s back from Norris, who finished ninth, as neither of the McLarens topped the timing charts in either session.
The first red flag of the weekend came 15 minutes into FP1, when Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc lost control at turn four. Lawson, as the car immediately following Leclerc, did well to avoid the debris caused by the accident after having let the Ferrari pass him at turn three.
That ruled Leclerc out of the rest of the day and Ferrari’s mechanics now face the task of repairing his car for Sunday’s final practice and qualifying.
After a near 10-minute delay, the 19 remaining cars returned to the track, where Lawson moved inside the top 10 with a best lap of 1m 14.458s – on medium tyres as the rest of the field bar Hadjar were on softs.
Two laps later, Lawson went faster and posted a 1m 14.305s lap to move clear of Hadjar, until the Frenchman leapfrogged his teammate with a 1m 14.059s, 0.166s faster than the Kiwi.
As both Racing Bulls drivers switched from medium to soft tyres, Lawson and Hadjar continued to improve throughout the first session before the chequered flag waved.
The Canadian Grand Prix begins at 6am Monday (NZ time).
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.
