Lawson: Historic P3 in Baku qualifying all about ‘survival’

On a chaotic afternoon in Baku, Liam Lawson proved that sometimes the first battle in Formula 1 qualifying is simply making it through.

The 22-year-old Kiwi kept his cool through six red flags, heavy winds, and flashes of rain to snatch third on the grid for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix – his best-ever start in F1, and New Zealand’s finest since Chris Amon lined up P3 with an Ensign in Sweden back in 1976.

With chaos testing drivers’ nerve throughout the over two-hour stretched session, Lawson’s poise and precision shone through, marking a historic moment for both him and his nation.

“Honestly it felt like hours. I needed to pee since like lap two of quali, so that’s never nice,” Lawson joked after stepping out of the car, visibly drained but beaming from the achievement.

The Racing Bulls driver, who’s been on a rollercoaster ride this season, described his approach as pure survival.

“It’s obviously very good quali for us today. It’s just surviving, honestly, the first two sessions. Maximizing every lap on track,” he said, summing up events.

Riding the Storm

For Lawson, the key to his performance was learning to trust his car when conditions teased disaster but didn’t deliver.

“The hardest thing is when it starts raining and you see it on your visor and the gloss starting on the track. Everything’s telling you there’s going to be less grip, but then it’s not,” he explained.

“I didn’t maximize the first lap in Q3 and Carlos did. On the last lap I just ignored all of it and carried on, and it worked.”

That bold approach secured a result that not only wrote his name into New Zealand’s F1 history books but also gave Racing Bulls just their sixth-ever top-three starting spot in four decades of competition.

The team hadn’t started that high since Yuki Tsunoda’s P3 in Brazil last season.

Eyes on the Race

Lawson’s qualifying heroics also underscored his recent momentum. Since returning to the Faenza outfit after being dropped by Red Bull earlier this year, the Kiwi has clawed his way into form – scoring points in four of the last five races and moving ahead of Tsunoda in the standings.

“The car’s been good all weekend. 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, already shifting focus to race day.

Podium talk might sound ambitious for a driver still carving his reputation, but Lawson wasn’t ruling it out.

“We’d love to fight for the podium,” he admitted. “The car’s been very, very good recently. But we know there’s very quick guys coming from behind us. It’s going to be a tough race.

“If it’s anything like today with these conditions, then anything’s possible.”

For a young driver once written off after losing his Red Bull seat, Azerbaijan qualifying marked more than just a grid position. It was a statement — one that resonated all the way back to Chris Amon’s era.

Read also:

Permane: No call on Hadjar’s future until ‘much later in the season’

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via X and Facebook