Liam Lawson missed Q3 at the Spanish GP by hundredths. The Racing Bulls driver qualified P13, behind his teammate Isack Hadjar in P9, despite showing strong pace all weekend at Barcelona.
Lawson’s Spanish GP qualifying campaign fell short of the top 10 shootout. His weekend started promisingly with consistent performance across practice sessions.
Momentum built through practice sessions
Liam Lawson delivered solid performances across all practice sessions at the Spanish GP. The Racing Bulls driver started Friday with an encouraging P6 in FP1, showing immediate pace on the challenging Barcelona circuit.
Friday afternoon’s FP2 saw Lawson drop to P10, but he maintained that position in Saturday’s FP3. The consistent pace across different sessions built confidence heading into qualifying, with Racing Bulls appearing to have found a strong setup balance for the technical Barcelona layout.
Lawson described feeling comfortable with his car’s handling throughout all practice sessions, suggesting the team had made good progress with their setup work.
Qualifying Disappointment
Saturday’s qualifying session brought unexpected disappointment to Lawson’s Spanish GP campaign. His Q1 time of 1:13.039 comfortably secured progression to Q2 and, combined with the weekend’s strong practice sessions, suggested Q3 advancement was achievable.
However, Q2 proved more challenging than expected. Lawson’s lap of 1:12.763 fell agonizingly short of the top 10 cutoff by mere hundredths of a second.
“I don’t actually know where it slipped away, but it’s the first time really all weekend that we’ve lacked any speed, so it’s a shame, it’s felt good all weekend,” Lawson explained. The disappointment was evident as he struggled to pinpoint what had changed from the consistent pace he’d shown in practice sessions.
Circuit Adaptability Highlights Team Progress
Racing Bulls’ performance throughout the Spanish GP weekend continued their positive momentum from Monaco, proving the team can be competitive across different circuit characteristics. Monaco’s tight street circuit contrasts dramatically with Barcelona’s high speed layout, making the team’s adaptability particularly encouraging for their development trajectory.
“These two [are] completely different tracks, so I guess it’s good that in both different tracks the car’s got a good speed, but obviously the goals we’re going to support it together with what we’re playing will certainly make them be able to do that,” Lawson reflected, highlighting the car’s adaptability across contrasting tracks while emphasizing that team unity and shared goals are essential to translating speed into success.
Raceday Opportunities
Starting P13, Lawson faces a challenging points scoring opportunity in Sunday’s Spanish GP. Yet, Barcelona offers more overtaking opportunities than recent venues like Monaco with its multiple DRS zones creating strategic passing opportunities.
When asked about race prospects, Lawson remained optimistic.
“We’re going to try and move forward, but it’s going to be interesting to see what different teams do.
“I mean if you have the pace advantage then there’s a possibility of an overtake here, which is obviously very different to Monaco, so that’s positive and that’s obviously the target,” Lawson explained.
His emphasis on Barcelona’s overtaking potential highlighted the strategic differences between circuits, with the Spanish track offering multiple opportunities that simply don’t exist on Monaco’s narrow streets.
Racing Bulls showed strong race pace during practice sessions, and qualifying performance doesn’t always translate directly to Sunday competitiveness. The Spanish GP’s longer straights and multiple overtaking zones could reward tire management and strategic execution, giving the team opportunities to convert their weekend pace into championship points.
