Formula 1: Liam Lawson impresses in Japanese Grand Prix practice as teammate struggles

Liam Lawson has completed a solid day of practice for Formula One’s Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.

Returning to the track he boasts the most experience on, with two previous Formula One grands prix and three races in Japan’s Super Formula, Lawson’s best time of the day, 1m 31.590s, was enough for 12th in the second practice session (FP2). He clocked the eighth-best time in the first (FP1).

The Racing Bulls driver was able to spend time on all three tyre compounds and complete simulations for qualifying on Saturday and the longer race run on Sunday as he managed 56 laps in total.

Times in FP2 tend to be a more realistic indicator of how drivers will perform in qualifying, given the similarities between the time of day, and track evolution – where tyres wear and make the surface stickier, and therefore faster to drive on.

However, if Lawson’s performances in China this month are anything to go by – where he started outside the top 10 but still managed points finishes – the Kiwi will back himself to continue his strong start to the year.

Promisingly, Lawson also showed none of the start procedure issues that plagued him in China and Melbourne.

Lawson’s best time put him 1.457s back from the fastest of the day, set by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, while Mercedes pair Kimi Antonelli and George Russell trailed by 0.092s and 0.205s respectively.

World champion Lando Norris was fourth, 0.516s back from his McLaren teammate, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was 10th, 1.376s adrift of Piastri.

Things weren’t as smooth for Lawson’s Racing Bulls teammate Arvid Lindblad, who only completed one lap in FP2 before his day ended early with gearbox issues.

Lawson also complained of power issues on Suzuka’s famous 130R section, however, all drivers are coming to terms with how to best manage their batteries under the new regulations.

Teams will get one more practice session on Saturday afternoon (NZ time) before qualifying.

Earlier, Lawson was eighth in the weekend’s opening session, 0.863s off the initial pace set by Russell, who posted a lap of 1m 31.666s, while Antonelli was 0.026s back in second.

Racing Bulls enjoyed a good session allround, as Lindblad completed the top 10.

On soft tyres, Lawson put in a best lap of 1m 32.529s in FP1, as well as getting through vital laps on the hard tyres to simulate the race.

However, the blemishes on Lawson’s session came in the final 20 minutes, when he was noted for an incident at turn 10 with Williams’ Carlos Sainz.

Earlier, he was held up by Alpine’s Franco Colapinto. “Are you watching what I’m watching? It’s free practice one,” Lawson was heard telling his race engineer.

Qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix begins at 7pm on Saturday, before the race itself at 6pm on Sunday.

Japan will be Formula One’s final race before May, after the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia grands prix were cancelled because of the war in Iran.

Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.