Liam Lawson endured a mixed opening day at the Formula 1 São Paulo Grand Prix, finishing tenth in the first practice session before slipping to 13th in the afternoon as Racing Bulls struggled to find a suitable setup around Interlagos.
The Kiwi showed encouraging pace early on Friday, recording a 1:12.715 in FP1 to finish inside the top ten. However, changes made to his VCARB03 ahead of the second session failed to deliver the expected improvements, leaving Lawson battling significant understeer as track temperatures dropped.
Despite improving his lap time to 1:12.042 in FP2, Lawson finished three places lower and narrowly behind teammate Arvid Lindblad, who was just 0.034 seconds quicker in 12th.
With rain threatening to disrupt the remainder of the weekend, Racing Bulls now faces the challenge of finding a setup that will be competitive in both dry and wet conditions.
“We started a little bit stronger this morning, and then we tried something that didn’t really work in FP2, and when it got a lot colder, the stuff we changed was in the opposite direction to that, so it didn’t really help,” Lawson explained.
“We’ll probably go back on that. I think we had a better car [in FP1], so we’ll try to start with something similar [in FP3], and then we’ll see what happens with the weather because it is probably going to rain.”
Lawson admitted the changes had a greater impact on the car’s handling than the team had anticipated, particularly as the circuit cooled during the afternoon.
“I think we’re pretty surprised by how much of an effect what we changed had because the car was probably one of the worst balances we’ve had this season, or at least in the recent races in FP2,” he said.
“But a big factor is that when the track temperature comes down, we just had so much understeer in the car, so we’ll try and revert on that [for Saturday].
“But obviously, we can’t change anything drastically because if it rains, you need to have a good car in the rain as well.”
Norris sets the pace in opening practice
McLaren’s Lando Norris was quickest in the opening hour at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, setting a 1:11.717 to finish 0.082 seconds ahead of newly crowned World Champion Kimi Antonelli.
Max Verstappen was third for Red Bull, followed by Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Isack Hadjar.
The session featured several unfamiliar faces, with six teams handing their cars over to rookie drivers for the opening hour.
Among them were Leonardo Fornaroli, who replaced Oscar Piastri at McLaren, Freddie Slater in Nico Hülkenberg’s Audi and former IndyCar driver Colton Herta, who drove Sergio Perez’s Cadillac.
Brazilian Rafael Camara also made his Formula 1 race weekend debut with Haas ahead of his first full season next year.
The session was briefly interrupted when Slater stopped on track with a mechanical problem, bringing out the red flags. Alex Albon also encountered trouble later in the hour, pulling his Williams off the circuit with a power steering issue.
Verstappen was the first driver to make a significant improvement on the soft tyres, before Antonelli and Norris lowered the benchmark further. Norris ultimately held on to the fastest time as teams turned their attention to longer runs in the closing stages.
Lawson completed the top ten, behind Alpine rookie Gabriele Mini, Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Franco Colapinto. His Racing Bulls teammate Lindblad was 14th after spending much of the session learning the Interlagos circuit.
Antonelli fastest as Lawson slips to 13th in FP2
Mercedes driver Antonelli took over at the top of the timesheets in second practice, becoming the first driver to break into the 1:10s with a 1:10.763.
The Italian finished more than two-tenths clear of Norris, with Verstappen third and Russell fourth.
Oscar Piastri, returning to his McLaren after sitting out FP1, was fifth ahead of Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Conditions remained overcast throughout the session, with reports of light drizzle adding to the uncertainty over the weekend’s weather.
Russell briefly led the session with a 1:11.036 before Norris and Verstappen went quicker. Antonelli then produced the lap that would remain unbeaten for the rest of the afternoon.
Leclerc had a difficult session for Ferrari, reporting braking concerns before losing time on a flying lap when he encountered Haas newcomer Camara on the main straight.
Elsewhere, Audi’s Hülkenberg was unable to complete any running as the team continued investigating the mechanical problems that had affected Slater’s car earlier in the day. For Lawson, the second session proved more difficult despite the improvement in outright lap time.
The Kiwi struggled to get the Racing Bulls working in the cooler conditions, with the changes made between sessions leaving him unable to extract the same relative performance he had shown earlier.
Lindblad, meanwhile, made progress throughout the afternoon, improving to 12th with a 1:12.008.
The narrow margin between the Racing Bulls drivers highlighted just how competitive the midfield remains, with small improvements likely to make a significant difference in qualifying.
Reflecting on his first experience of Interlagos, Lindblad was pleased with the progress made after a difficult opening session.
“It’s my first time driving here at Interlagos, and it’s a pretty cool track to drive, as I expected. FP1 wasn’t the smoothest session, as I still had to familiarise myself with the layout and get up to speed. In addition to this, we also identified a few areas on the car that needed improvement.
“We made some changes ahead of FP2, where I felt much more comfortable and confident behind the wheel, so that’s a definite positive.”
Racing Bulls searching for improvements ahead of qualifying
Lawson believes the team has a clearer understanding of which direction to take with the car after Friday’s running, although the unpredictable forecast could complicate matters.
“Today has been somewhat fine overall. We made some changes to the car between FP1 and FP2, but there’s definitely more to be made ahead of tomorrow.
“We’ll spend tonight reviewing everything and working out what we need to do to get the car into the best possible window for tomorrow. We have a few ideas we’d like to explore, but the midfield is extremely close at the moment. It’s going to be important to put everything together, particularly with the weather being so unpredictable.”
One of Lawson’s concerns heading into qualifying is tyre preparation, with the short lap at Interlagos making it difficult to generate enough temperature before beginning a flying lap.
“For the tyres, the laps are really short for warm-up, so we’re struggling to get everything properly ready for Turn 1.
“Any traffic queuing in the pit lane on track can really, really affect Turn 1, so it’s going to be interesting, especially Q1 when everybody’s on track together.
“But I mean, the bigger question mark is going to be the rain.”
Racing Bulls Team Principal Alan Permane acknowledged the team had not enjoyed its strongest Friday but remained confident there was more performance to find.
“It’s not been our strongest Friday here in Brazil. We haven’t quite got to grips with the car, but we made improvements between FP1 and FP2, so the drivers were happier.
“That being said, there are definitely some more adjustments to be made. We’re a tiny bit out of position in comparison to where we normally are on a Friday; however, we’re running the simulator with ideas to find a tenth or two, and are focused on ensuring we have the best car set up ahead of tomorrow’s weather forecast.
“We know the car runs well in the wet, so we’re optimistic as we look ahead to Qualifying tomorrow.”
With the midfield closely matched and rain forecast for Sunday’s race, Saturday’s final practice and qualifying sessions will be particularly important for Lawson and Racing Bulls.
The team will be looking to recover the balance Lawson enjoyed in FP1 while ensuring the car remains competitive should the conditions change.
For Lawson, finding that compromise could be the difference between another Q3 appearance and an early qualifying exit at Interlagos.
Header Photo: Clive Mason/Getty Images via Red Bull Content Pool
