Liam Lawson has opened the Spanish Grand Prix weekend with a pair of top-10 finishes as Formula 1 got its first taste of Madrid’s new Madring circuit.
Continuing his stint with Red Bull in place of the injured Isack Hadjar, the New Zealander finished 10th in both Friday practice sessions as drivers worked to learn the unfamiliar 5.414km, 22-turn street circuit.
Lawson entered the weekend acknowledging that time in the Red Bull remains valuable as he continues adapting to a car that was not originally set up around him.
“It’s not my car, and obviously in your own car you have many things that are very suited for you, and that’s not something I can do in a couple of races with this car. The more time I spend in it, the more comfortable I get.”
That process continued throughout Friday, with Lawson describing the opening session as largely about gradually finding the limits of a circuit none of the field had previously raced on.
Grip levels increased quickly as rubber was laid down on the new surface, while traffic, bumps and the walls surrounding much of the high-speed layout added to the challenge.
Mercedes set the early benchmark, with George Russell topping FP1 with a 1m 34.077s, 0.289s clear of teammate Kimi Antonelli.
Ferrari also made a strong start as Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished third and fourth respectively, ahead of Lawson’s Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen in fifth.
Lawson briefly climbed to fourth after switching to the soft tyre during the second half of the session before improvements elsewhere pushed him back to 10th.
His 1m 35.539s ultimately left him behind Lando Norris, Arvid Lindblad, Oscar Piastri and Nico Hulkenberg, but ensured both Red Bulls finished the opening hour inside the top 10.
The first session also offered an early indication of how unforgiving the Madring could become as drivers pushed harder.
Several competitors ran beyond the circuit limits or through escape roads, while Racing Bulls driver Yuki Tsunoda’s session ended early because of a power steering problem.
Lawson continued his steady approach into FP2 as lap times dropped further and teams began making changes based on what they had learned during their first hour at the venue.
This time, Antonelli emerged fastest, posting a 1m 33.662s to lead Leclerc and Hamilton.
Racing Bulls rookie Lindblad was one of the standout performers, climbing to fourth before becoming the first driver to have a significant encounter with the Madring barriers.
Lindblad lost the rear of his car approaching Turn 13 and crashed, triggering a red flag and ending his session.
Russell finished fifth ahead of Verstappen, with Piastri seventh and Tsunoda eighth. Esteban Ocon took ninth, while Lawson again rounded out the top 10 with a 1m 34.938s.
Lawson’s session wasn’t completely trouble-free, with Red Bull bringing his car back into the pits late in the run to investigate an issue. Technical Director Pierre Wache later confirmed the team resolved the problem.
“For all of us, Madring is very different and takes a lot more time to get used to compared to tracks that we’ve been to many times over the years,” Lawson said.
“The track is very exciting; it’s very fast in a lot of places, and very high commitment. FP1 was all about building up.
“The track gets a lot faster because it’s never really been driven on as we’re doing a lot of laps, putting rubber down, and making it faster, but I think after FP2, there’s definitely more time to find.”
Lawson said his priority remained maximising his mileage before qualifying rather than immediately trying to extract everything from the car on Friday.
“I think the main goal for over the weekend is to try and do as many laps in Practice as possible and be prepared for Qualifying.
“So, we probably left a little bit of margin while getting used to the track, but everything feels okay so far. We’ll try and tune it up overnight and have a stronger drive tomorrow ahead of Qualifying.”
Verstappen also had some concerns during FP2, including a steering complaint, but completed both sessions without a major interruption. The four-time World Champion finished fifth in FP1 before slipping to sixth in FP2.
Red Bull’s early assessment suggested there remains work to do if the team is to challenge Mercedes and Ferrari at the front.
Wache said the circuit had characteristics that differed from the team’s simulator expectations, particularly its bumps, mechanical grip demands, and tyre behaviour.
“Mechanical grip and the ride are more challenging than what we thought, the tyre grained more than expected, and the track is bumpier than what we thought from the Sim, so there are some challenges,” he said.
“The long run was quite competitive, and our tyre management was quite good, so there are some positives – but we know we’re not quick enough yet, so we have a lot of work to do.”
McLaren endured a particularly difficult FP2, with Norris unable to record a representative lap after the team changed his gearbox, while Piastri struggled with rear grip before eventually finishing seventh.
Fernando Alonso also lost running in front of his home crowd after a clutch issue delayed the start of his second session.
For Lawson, however, Friday was largely about mileage and building confidence at a circuit where commitment is already proving crucial.
Two 10th-place finishes provided a consistent start, but with the Madring continuing to evolve and Lawson admitting he left some margin on the table, there could be more to come as Red Bull works on its set-up overnight.
The final practice session gets underway at 10.30pm NZST on Saturday before Lawson tackles his first qualifying session at the Madring.
Header Image: Mark Thompson/Getty Images via Red Bull Content Pool
