It wasn’t as dramatic as his last Friday racing in Zandvoort, but Liam Lawson logged an otherwise impressive day as Formula One returned for the Dutch Grand Prix.
On a day where multiple flags – red and yellow – were triggered by drivers leaving the track, Lawson placed 11th in free practice one (FP1) and 14th in free practice two (FP2).
However, on a day where multiple drivers struggled with the unforgiving nature of the Zandvoort circuit, Lawson’s displays across both sessions were quietly assuring, with rain expected for Sunday’s qualifying.
“It was good, honestly,” Lawson said. “It’s been a tricky day, it’s a hard track and that probably showed today.
“But [I’m] feeling comfortable. The car is in a good place. I struggled a bit at the end with the softs [tyres]. We didn’t really do a proper lap at the end.
“But in general, the car is good. We’ll find out tomorrow.
“We’ll see what the weather does, but in this place it’s always up in the air.
“Trying to maximise track time is important if qualifying is [wet], then it makes it really tricky trying to avoid red flags, yellow flags.
“That can be the hardest part, more than just having a quick car. So we’ll keep chipping away at the car overnight and then try to make the most of tomorrow and see where we end up.”
Two years on from making a surprise debut as an injury replacement for Daniel Ricciardo at the same circuit, Lawson was Racing Bulls’ best driver and bettered teammate Isack Hadjar in both sessions.
Hadjar’s woes were compounded further in FP2 when he was forced to retire without setting a timed lap because of a power unit issue, which could leave him facing an engine penalty for Monday’s (NZ time) grand prix.
The Kiwi was able to put in stints on all three tyre compounds in a solid day of practice, with a best lap of 1m 11.339s set in FP2. That time was 1.449s back from the best effort of the day, set when McLaren’s Lando Norris crossed the line in 1m 09.890s.
Norris’ teammate and world championship rival Oscar Piastri was third in FP2, 0.089s back, but could find himself in hot water for a pit lane incident that saw him nearly collide with Mercedes’ George Russell.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso also stood out, after managing second in FP2, 0.087s back from Norris, and taking fourth in FP1.
With the threat of rain on a tight and technical circuit, neither session was completed without a red flag. Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli got his car stuck in the gravel in FP1, before Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll hit the wall at turn three and Alex Albon also beached his car at turn one in FP2.
Away from the flags, the likes of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, with 11 world championships between them, also had moments and both lost control of their cars across the two sessions.
Earlier, in FP1, Lawson’s best lap of 1m 11.753s was enough for 11th place, albeit 1.475s back from session leader Norris.
The McLaren driver’s best lap of 1m 10.278 was 0.292 clear of teammate Piastri in second, with the big winners of the first session being the two Aston Martin cars – Stroll in third and Alonso in fourth.
Lawson’s best time was 0.019s quicker than his teammate, as Hadjar finished 12th. The two Racing Bulls cars were also quicker than both Ferraris, as Charles Leclerc took 14th, and Hamilton 15th.
The final act of the session saw Verstappen leave the track at turn one after a practice start and beach himself in the gravel after setting the sixth-best time, 0.940s behind Norris.
His Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda was another to struggle on the technical Zandvoort circuit and left the track at turn 11 as he set the 16th fastest time, 1.848s back from the leader and 0.373s back from Lawson.
Both Mercedes cars had hairy incidents as Russell also left the track at turn one but was able to avoid hitting the wall on his way to setting the seventh-best time of the session.
Qualifying for the Dutch Grand Prix begins at 1am Sunday (NZ time).
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.