Liam Lawson will start the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from 11th on the grid after narrowly missing Q3 during a frustrating qualifying session on the streets of Baku.
The Kiwi originally qualified 12th for Racing Bulls but moved up a place after Williams driver Carlos Sainz was handed a five-place grid penalty for failing to slow sufficiently under yellow flags.
It leaves Lawson just outside the top 10 for Saturday night’s race, giving him an opportunity to fight for points at a circuit where he produced one of his strongest Formula 1 performances last season.
Lawson had been hoping for another big result in Baku after qualifying third and finishing fifth at the circuit in 2025, but Racing Bulls struggled to reproduce its usual midfield competitiveness throughout this year’s weekend.
After finishing 18th in FP3, Lawson faced a difficult task heading into qualifying but found an improvement when it mattered.
His first attempt in Q1 was compromised when Lance Stroll went off at Turn 7 and triggered yellow flags, forcing Lawson to regroup.
Once able to complete a representative lap, he posted a 1:46.141 before improving as the session progressed. A final effort of 1:45.535 proved enough to take him through to Q2. Lawson again found more speed in the second phase of qualifying.
After initially sitting outside the top 10, he lowered his time to a 1:44.860 on his final flying lap. For a brief moment, it looked as though it could be enough to secure a Q3 appearance, but late improvements elsewhere ultimately pushed him down to 12th.
The margins were incredibly tight, with Lawson ending the session just 0.177 seconds away from a place inside the top 10.
A lack of a slipstream along Baku’s lengthy flat-out section proved particularly costly, with Lawson believing there was enough performance in the car to reach Q3 had he been able to pick up a tow.
“It’s been a pretty frustrating day, but I think we’ve done a great job with finding an extra step between sessions. My last lap in Qualifying was really good up until the final couple of corners. We struggled with overheating and couldn’t get a tow, which is really powerful around here. With a tow, I think we would have had a good chance of getting through to Q3.
“It’s going to be a tough race tomorrow and we’ll have to be smart with energy management, the tyres didn’t look too bad yesterday, but we never really know what tomorrow will bring.”
Speaking separately after qualifying, Lawson also described the frustration of watching the time disappear over the closing section of his lap.
“We’ve just honestly been slow this weekend,” he said.
“We made a step [up] for quali, which was good. The lap was really good up until turn 16. I just had no tow, as well. I tried to start close to Max, but his out lap was too quick. By the end of the lap he’d pulled away.
“It’s super frustrating watching your delta climb, and you lose all the time you’ve made up.”
It was a difficult qualifying session across the garage for Racing Bulls, with teammate Arvid Lindblad also eliminated in Q2.
Lindblad qualified 15th after an unsettled weekend that included a crash during FP2 and several mistakes around the unforgiving Baku street circuit.
Racing Bulls Chief Technical Officer Tim Goss admitted the team had not shown its usual level of performance but was encouraged by the progress made ahead of qualifying.
“It has been a challenging weekend for us through the Practice and Qualifying sessions this weekend, and we have definitely lacked some of our usual competitiveness.
“Overnight we made some good improvements on both cars for a number of reasons: braking consistency, grip in the low-speed sections of the circuit, plus some further refinements to the car configuration and power unit between FP3 and Qualifying.
“At this circuit, the drivers need a car that they can trust in the heavy braking zones and into the tight 90 degree corners. We are happy we have progressed, but there is clearly more to understand to bring the package back into its usual performance window.”
At the front, George Russell delivered a dominant performance to secure pole position for Mercedes.
Russell produced a 1:42.526 on his final run to finish 0.837 seconds clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, while Oscar Piastri was only 0.001 seconds behind Leclerc in third.
Returning Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar qualified fourth following his three-race absence with a wrist injury, with Lando Norris completing the top five for McLaren. Lewis Hamilton secured sixth for Ferrari ahead of Pierre Gasly, Max Verstappen, Sainz and Franco Colapinto.
Sainz’s ninth-place qualifying result represented a breakthrough for Williams following the introduction of a significant upgrade package, but his subsequent five-place grid penalty drops him down the order and promotes those immediately behind him — including Lawson.
Lawson will therefore line up 11th, putting him directly on the edge of the points-paying positions at the start.
One of the biggest surprises of qualifying came from championship leader Kimi Antonelli, whose session unravelled when he hit the wall at Turn 1 during Q1.
Damage to the Mercedes prevented Antonelli from returning to the track, leaving him 16th and facing a recovery drive through the field. For Lawson, the focus now shifts to making the most of an improved starting position.
Baku has regularly produced unpredictable races, while the long straights place an additional emphasis on energy management, strategy and straight-line performance.
Starting P11 leaves Lawson within striking distance of the top 10 as Racing Bulls looks to turn a challenging weekend into another points-scoring result.
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix gets underway at 11pm NZST on Saturday night, with the race being held a day earlier than usual to avoid clashing with Azerbaijan’s national day of remembrance on Sunday.
Header Image: Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images via Red Bull Content Pool
