Liam Lawson logged a solid day of practice for Formula One’s Las Vegas Grand Prix and recorded a sixth-placed finish in the second session.
The Kiwi’s best lap of 1m 33.901s in free practice two (FP2) meant he finished 0.299s back from the fastest time of the day, set by McLaren’s Lando Norris, and with under 24 hours until qualifying.
In his second taste of the Las Vegas Strip Circuit, Lawson continued to improve throughout the first day of the Grand Prix weekend.
However, while Lawson’s best lap in FP2 was quicker than his senior Red Bull counterparts – 0.204s ahead of Max Verstappen in ninth and 0.791s clear of Yuki Tsunoda in 15th – the Kiwi was 0.008s behind his Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar, who finished fifth.
Any chance for drivers to improve on their times towards the end of the session was wiped out by two separate red flags for a loose manhole cover, reminiscent of the scenes of 2023, when Carlos Sainz’s car suffered terminal damage after running one over.
All the same, Lawson was able to get through 44 laps – 28 in FP1 and 16 in FP2 – on a circuit, which by his own admission, is the one he struggled the most on in 2024.
Taking to the track in FP2, after rain fell between the sessions, it took Lawson 18 minutes to improve on his mark in FP1 when he produced a lap of 1m 35.597s on medium tyres.
Lawson bettered that time after the 20-minute mark with a lap of 1m 34.784s, which was faster than the time Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc recorded to top FP1.
Once Lawson changed his medium tyres to softs, his best lap of the day temporarily put him second but he was overtaken as more drivers did the same.
Earlier, the New Zealander was solid, if not spectacular, in logging the 13th-fastest time of FP1 and being 0.171s off a spot in the top 10.
Barring a late minor incident when he went too deep at turn 14, Lawson completed the first session without any real hassle. His best lap time of 1m 35.709s was 0.228s back from Hadjar in seventh.
Leclerc set the fastest time of the session, getting around the circuit in 1m 34.802s, 0.907s quicker than Lawson, while Williams’ Alex Albon was 0.166s behind in second.
However, as Lawson and Tsunoda battle to secure what’s understood to be the final seat at Racing Bulls for 2026, the Japanese driver impressed with the session’s third-best time – 1m 35.071s – and was 0.638s quicker than his rival. Tsunoda’s time was also 0.038s in front of his Red Bull teammate Verstappen.
World championship leader Norris was sixth, 0.290s off Leclerc’s best lap, while McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri was eighth, 0.482s back.
As one of the first drivers out on track, Lawson complained of a lack of grip as the track temperature of 19C led to drivers struggling to get heat into their tyres.
Starting on medium tyres, Lawson’s first lap time of 1m 46.112s left him languishing towards the bottom of the pack. However, as has been the case all season, the Kiwi only improved throughout FP1.
By the time the hour-long session came to an end, Lawson had taken more than 10 seconds off that time and got through long runs on the medium tyres, as well as a qualifying simulation on the softs.
Qualifying begins at 4pm on Saturday (NZT).
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.