Lawson takes third on grid at Azerbaijan GP
- Dave Worsley
- Sep 21
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 22
New Zealand driver Liam Lawson achieved the best Qualifying result of his Formula 1 career for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as he capitalised on the chaos of the session to take third position.
The Racing Bulls team member will join Carlos Sainz in the top three on the grid tomorrow after clocking early fast laps in Q3, with Max Verstappen the only driver who could beat the midfield teams to pole position.
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In a Baku qualifying which featured a record-breaking six red flags Lawson capitalised on both Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri crashing out in Q3.
The 23-year-old sat second on the grid with only Carlos Sainz, himself, and Isack Hadjar having set a lap-time with just 3:41 left on the clock after the Piastri crash.
Sainz and Lawson were then overhauled by Max Verstappen who calmly charged to pole, but Lawson took third on the grid - beating his previous career-best of sixth in Austria earlier this season.
“Honestly I can’t even remember what happened, it was so busy,” Lawson summarised. “I didn’t expect it to be like that, honestly. The car has been good all weekend and when it needed to be in Quali,
it was good so a massive thanks to the guys and girls. The team’s been amazing this weekend so far, but obviously tomorrow is the important day," he said after the race.
“It’s always sketchy because you see the rain coming on your visor and you can feel it, and you can kind of see the gloss on the track, but because the tyres are still warm you have grip. You’re trying to fight your brain and not back off and keep pushing. It’s definitely tricky.
“It’s going to be a very hard race. We have a great starting position but obviously we’re aware of who we’re fighting around us, and that’s what we’re focused on.”
Earlier Lawson was ninth in Q3 to go with his top-10's the previous day.
