It is the start of a new era for Formula 1, with significant regulation changes shaking up the grid. Liam Lawson was able to complete both short and long stints, helping his team gain valuable data for this weekend’s race.
Practice 1
Concerns about unreliability were soon evident in practice after Oscar Piastri reported no power moments at the start of the session.
A Virtual Safety Car was called moments later to recover a stranded Arvid Lindblad, whose engine cut out just moments after exiting the pit lane. This meant that Lawson was the sole Racing Bulls car on track, and he would sit fifth after ten minutes. However, all times at this point were unrepresentative as drivers worked on their own data collection.
Piastri was able to continue while his teammate and current world champion Lando Norris headed back into the lane after reporting gear shift issues.
Aston Martin’s horror season so far continued early on, with news that a power unit issue meant Fernando Alonso would not be able to take part in the session. At the same time, his teammate Lance Stroll sat in the pit lane after only completing a handful of laps.
Just over twenty minutes into the session, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen sat top of the timesheets, just ahead of his team-mate Isack Hadjar. Lawson sat in sixth, 1.210 seconds off Verstappen and was sitting in the pit lane after completing a twelve lap stint.
Lawson’s teammate Lindblad was able to get out with just under 35 minutes remaining, resolving what was a suspected software issue.
Lawson headed back out with 28 minutes to go, and shortly after news came through that Norris would take no further part in the session with McLaren taking precaution with his gearbox issue.
Another short-lived Virtual Safety Car was called after Alex Albon’s Williams lost drive and stopped by the marshal post at the exit of Turn 10. At the time of the VSC, Lawson sat one place behind his rookie teammate in thirteenth.
Many drivers mounted soft tyres on for a final run with minutes remaining. Lindblad put in a great lap to finish the session in fifth, 1.046 seconds off Charles Leclerc who finished the session on top in a Ferrari 1-2.
It is unclear whether Lawson set a representative time on a soft set of tyres at the end of the session, where the Kiwi reportedly suffered from battery deployment and vibration issues throughout the session. He wrapped up Practice 1 in thirteenth, +2.346 seconds off the top time.
Practice 2
The session started off with contact in the pit lane. Lindblad and George Russell got together after confusion on who could merge into the fast lane first.
When the session went green, Franco Colapinto suffered from a lack of power on his outlap, and Lewis Hamilton was lucky to avoid him while he dawdled on the racing line.
Ford’s engine issues continued in Practice Two, when Verstappen was unable to get his car out of the pit lane. The Red Bull was trapped on the pit exit line and had to get wheeled back into the garage by their mechanics.
After fifteen minutes of running, Lawson sat +1.381 seconds off the top of the timesheets in ninth. His teammate, Lindblad, sat in fourteenth.
Alonso’s first practice issues looked to finally got resolved as he headed out early in the session to kick off his 2026 season. However, he came back into the pit lane after two laps.
Both Lawson and Lindblad headed back out on track with 36 minutes remaining. At the halfway mark, Lindblad was in seventh place with Lawson in tenth.
After setting some laps on softs, Lawson’s focus shifted back to medium tyre running with a suspected heavier fuel load.
In what seems to be becoming increasingly common, Stroll was called into the lane by his team with another suspected power unit issue. At the same time, Verstappen proved he is human after a snap of oversteer in Turn 10 sent him flying into the gravel in what was a scary high-speed moment. Carbon fibre was thrown everywhere, and he came into the pit lane a lap later.
Cadillac’s Sergio Perez stopped on track with five minutes to go and brought out a VSC. Green flag running resumed with three minutes to go, with many drivers on long run stints. This left the leaderboard relatively unchanged.
Lindblad once again led the Racing Bulls charge in eighth, with Lawson over a second and a half off the top in thirteenth.
Piastri finished the session on top with a 1.19.729, two tenths ahead of Kimi Antonelli.
Formula One will be back on track tomorrow at 2:30pm NZST (7th March)
