Lawson to start United States Grand Prix ninth
New Zealand driver Liam Lawson will start ninth on the grid for the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas after claiming a top-10 qualifying spot, that's despite not taking to the track in the final session.
Italian points leader Kimi Antonelli, 20 holds pole position on the Circuit of Americas track.
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Twenty-four-old Lawson was last driver to qualify for Q3, 0.860 seconds off Charles Leclerc’s pace, but Racing Bulls opted to save his tyres rather than send him out for another run after teammate Arvid Lindblad’s grid penalty for a power unit change effectively secured him ninth.
“We decided that if we got both cars into Q3, considering Arvid has a penalty for tomorrow, that we wouldn’t run,” said Lawson afterwards. “If we outqualified one of the top guys, we’re not really fighting them in the race tomorrow. It just makes sense.
“It’s a shame, honestly. I managed to get through Q1 on one set [of tyres] and we had two new sets for Q3, so I was ready to have a proper go at it. But unfortunately, or fortunately, now we have plenty of tyres for tomorrow.”
Antonelli edged out Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to claim pole at the Circuit of the Americas, with Isack Hadjar third and Leclerc fourth.
The Mercedes driver will be chasing his ninth win of the season as he looks to strengthen his grip on the championship, leading teammate George Russell by 102 points with six races remaining.
Lawson is in form after seventh places in both last two F1 Grand Prix's at Malaysia and Singapore.
