Liam Lawson secured top-10 finishes in both free practice sessions ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix on Friday, recovering from a tricky opening outing with crucial car changes to pace the Racing Bulls team and outshine teammate Arvid Lindblad.
Formula 1 driver Liam Lawson opened his weekend at the Hungaroring with an encouraging pair of results, finishing 10th fastest in the first practice session (FP1) before climbing to seventh in FP2 with a best lap of 1m 20.041s. The strong start provides an immediate counterweight to his frustrating weekend in Belgium, where he competed without the updated parts fitted to his teammate’s car. Lawson endured a frustrating weekend at Spa without the upgrades, finishing 12th, three places behind Lindblad.
Upgrades Arrive and the Garage Adjusts
Lawson’s VCARB 03 now carries the exact upgrade package that his teammate Arvid Lindblad debuted in Belgium. Racing Bulls opted to fit the new parts to Lindblad’s car first after he qualified ahead of Lawson at the British Grand Prix. Ahead of the Budapest weekend, Lawson warned that the new hardware was no guarantee of an immediate improvement after complaining of a lack of straight-line speed compared with several rivals in Belgium.
It's good to have the full package this weekend, but it doesn't solve all the answers,
Lawson said.
For his part, Lawson moved to quell any expectation that the upgrades would solve all his problems. If Friday is anything to go by, though, the Kiwi is well positioned to match the eighth place he recorded in this same race last year, if not better it.
Friday’s opening session proved demanding for the team. Racing Bulls boss Alan Permane highlighted a change made by Liam Lawson in Free Practice 2 in Hungary, key to a strong performance. Permane described a not straightforward
outing, and described Lawson’s change.
It’s not been as straightforward for us compared to the last couple of races; the car was quite tricky in FP1, and we made more changes than we normally would in between sessions,
Permane said. “लेकिन We got on top of things for FP2. As ever here, things close up; with the shorter lap, there’s a lot of medium speed, which we’re focusing on and making sure we’ve got a stable car on entries with good traction in the last sector, which is especially important. Liam made a change for the final lap on softs today, and that worked well, helping the rear end. It’s difficult to know exactly where we sit performance-wise, but it looks like we are in decent shape and will refine things further in FP3.”
Navigating Traffic, Rookies, and Red Flags
The afternoon session offered a clearer look at single-lap speed, though on-track incidents disrupted several drivers’ programs. Lawson placed seventh in FP2 after the soft tyre qualifying runs, and was two-tenths slower than Isack Hadjar in the Red Bull, and even ahead of the McLaren of Oscar Piastri, who did not get a clean lap. Team-mate Arvid Lindblad backed up Lawson’s performance by putting the sister car also within the top 10, with the two also both placing within it during the opening practice session. Lawson’s best time had him as the faster of the two Racing Bulls cars by 0.212s, as Arvid Lindblad finished 10th in FP2. Having beaten Lawson to receive Racing Bulls’ upgrades for Belgium, Lindblad finished ninth at Spa-Francorchamps last week, as Red Bull’s sister side cemented itself as a challenger for the ‘best of the rest’ tag outside of the sport’s top four teams.
Lawson’s attempt to improve his best effort was thwarted when he was forced to abort a lap on a set of fresh soft tyres when Lance Stroll lost control of his Aston Martin at turn two, before suffering a suspension failure that triggered a red flag.
Earlier, in FP1, Lawson’s position was slightly boosted by five rookies stepping in through Formula One’s young driver programme. With Antonelli and Oscar Piastri of McLaren missing, the Kiwi’s fastest time of 1m 20.866s was enough for 10th, 1.791s off the pace set by Leclerc – who left the session early with mechanical issues in the last 10 minutes. Mercedes’ Frederik Vesti was the best of the five rookies, with his best lap of 1m 20.467s enough for seventh, 1.392s off the pace.
Ferrari Sets the Pace While Rivals Loom
At the front of the field, Lewis Hamilton seeks ninth Hungary win. Lewis Hamilton has a chance to pile pressure on Kimi Antonelli and Mercedes as the Formula 1 title race heads to Hungary, and there were promising signs as Ferrari seemed to have the pace in practice. Hamilton has won the Hungarian Grand Prix eight times, making it his most successful event besides his home British Grand Prix. It’s a track where cornering ability, not raw power, tends to make the difference, which could suit his Ferrari.
I think we’ve got a car that can compete. Mercedes is still the car to beat, and they won’t be easy to beat this weekend, but I do think we’ve made subtle progress,” Hamilton said this week. Hopefully we can be fighting with them this weekend.
It certainly seemed that way as Ferrari topped Friday’s two practice sessions. Hamilton set the fastest time of the day as he beat Leclerc by 0.148 of a second in the second session, with Lando Norris a distant third for McLaren, .499 away. George Russell was the best Mercedes in fifth and Antonelli only 13th in. Charles Leclerc finished 0.148s off the pace set by his teammate in FP2, having topped the time sheets in FP1.
World championship leader Kimi Antonelli has plenty of work to do, after finishing 1.964s off Hamilton’s FP2 time, having sat out of the opening session. However, Antonelli was also denied the chance to set a lap on soft tyres. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was Leclerc’s closest challenger, as his lap of 1m 19.559s was 0.484s back from the Ferrari.
Saturday Schedule and Qualifying Stakes
Lawson remains optimistic about his prospects, expressing contentment with the running and optimism over his chances heading into Saturday.
I'm feeling good having wrapped up Friday here in Budapest,
said Lawson. “The car seems pretty quick; however, it’s a very challenging track, so it can be difficult to put a lap together. We’ll be working on making the necessary changes overnight in order to give ourselves the best possible chance to reach Q3 in Qualifying. I really enjoy racing at the Hungaroring, so I’m excited to get back out there tomorrow.”
Teams will get one final practice session later on Saturday night, before qualifying in the early hours of Sunday morning. Qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix begins at 2am on Sunday morning (NZT).
