White admittedly only Friday practice, Liam Lawson was off the pace on the first day of the Italian Grand Prix race weekend at Monza.
Fresh from Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar scoring his first Formula One podium at Zandvoort last week, Lawson finished outside the top 10 in both sessions, at a time where the Kiwi’s chances to regain promotion to Red Bull appear to have slipped.
Lawson was able to set the 13th best time in Free Practice One (FP1), 1.084s down from the leader, and was 17th in Free Practice Two (FP2), even if he had cut the gap to 0.933s to the fastest mark.
The Kiwi’s best time of the day, 1m 20.811s came in FP2, a session where Lawson got through 25 laps, having completed 27 in FP1.
“It was tough on our side,” said Lawson. “Obviously [there’s] very small margins here, so we’re trying to extract everything out of the car.
“We missed a little bit today. It’s better we do it today and learn from it and try to put ourselves in the best position for tomorrow.
“[But we have] a little bit of work to do.”
Hadjar meanwhile was able to finish 10th and 11th respectively, but was 0.428s quicker than Lawson in FP2 after the two were almost inseparable in FP1.
However, given that teams do not disclose their engine, aerodynamic and fuel configurations, just how Racing Bulls compare to the rest of the field won’t be known until qualifying on Sunday morning.
What’s more, given the low downforce, high speed nature of the Monza circuit, multiple drivers struggled - including Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, who triggered a red flag by beaching his car at turn seven in FP2.
Lawson raced at Monza during his five-race stint with then-AlphaTauri in 2023, where he finished 11th after qualifying in 12th place.
McLaren’s Lando Norris’ best lap in FP2, 1m 19.878s was the fastest of the day, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was second, 0.083s back as he bids to win his team’s home race for the second year running.
World championship leader Oscar Piastri was fourth in FP2, 0.181s off Norris , and sat out of FP1 to allow McLaren junior Alex Dunne a session, in accordance with Formula One rules that see teams give two practices per year.
Williams’ Carlos Sainz was arguably the standout driver on Friday, after finishing third in both sessions, and was 0.096s back from McLaren in FP2.
Earlier, in FP1, Lawson was able to post the 13th-fastest time, as the drivers got to grips with the Monza circuit.
The Kiwi’s best lap time of 1m 21.201s was 1.084s off the session leader, Lewis Hamilton, who posted a best time of 1m 20.117s.
Pleasingly for Ferrari in its home race, Leclerc was second, just 0.169s back from Hamilton in FP1. Hamilton, though, has carried a five-place grid penalty from last week’s Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, where he was judged to have failed to slow for yellow flags.
Norris, meanwhile, was sixth-fastest, 0.904s off Hamilton, while reigning champion Max Verstappen was fourth, 0.575s back. Hadjar, meanwhile, put in a best lap of 1m 21.158s for 10th in FP1, 0.043s better than Lawson.
Interestingly, with track temperatures touching 50 degrees in the first session, Lawson’s best time on the soft tyres was just 0.143s faster than his 1m 21.344s on the hards.
Both Racing Bulls drivers had shaky moments in the opening session; Lawson left the track at turn seven, while Hadjar did the same at the turn nine chicane. Hadjar’s misdemeanour left a spray of gravel on the track, which triggered a red flag.
The end of FP1 also saw Lawson complain of a “strange noise” with his turbo charger, even if he finished the session without further incident.
But with just seconds remaining in FP1, Mercedes’ George Russell lost power, and was forced to pull over and trigger a virtual safety car that prematurely ended the session.
Qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix begins at 2am Sunday (NZ time), before the race itself at 1am on Monday.
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.