NZ Herald Reports: Liam Lawson Impresses in Monaco Practice
According to a report from the NZ Herald, New Zealand’s Liam Lawson has made a strong impression on the first day of practice for the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, setting the fifth fastest time in the second practice session.
The report, as cited by the NZ Herald, states that Lawson, driving for Racing Bulls, completed 67 laps on the Circuit de Monaco, including stints on all three tyre compounds. The 21-year-old Kiwi driver expressed his satisfaction with the day’s progress, saying, "We made a step up from this morning, but naturally tomorrow everyone’s going to keep building again. We have to keep chasing that."
The NZ Herald report further notes that Lawson outperformed his teammate, Isack Hadjar, who struggled with the tight confines of the Monte Carlo streets, hitting the wall on three separate occasions across the two practice sessions.
As reported by the NZ Herald, Leclerc topped both practice sessions on his home track, logging the fastest time of the day, 1m 11.355s, as he looks to win Monaco for the second year in succession. World championship leader Oscar Piastri had the second fastest time of the day with 1m 11.393s, while Lewis Hamilton was third, 0.105s back from his teammate.
The NZ Herald article quotes Lawson as saying, "It’s better in an F1 car, I’ve [raced here] in F2. Although it’s much faster in F1, it’s just much more compliant. It’s a nicer car, and it’s really, really fun. It’s very special to do this here."
In the second practice session, Lawson clocked a lap of 1m 11.823s to move as high as third, while Hadjar responded with a 1m 11.842s lap, only to clip the wall again and face another limp back into the pits.
The report from the NZ Herald also notes that the 20 drivers will get a third and final practice session on Saturday night (NZ time), before the vital qualifying in the early hours of Sunday morning. However, as a means of negating the advantage qualifying brings, drivers in this year’s Grand Prix will be forced to make at least two pit stops, as opposed to the traditional one.
Qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix begins at 2am (NZ time) on Sunday. The NZ Herald’s report concludes that Lawson will look to build on his impressive start to the weekend, saying, "Tomorrow is the important day. We’ll focus on making another step for P3, and put ourselves in a good place for quali."
As noted by the NZ Herald, Lawson’s performance on the first day of practice has been encouraging, and he will look to continue to improve his pace and challenge for a strong qualifying position.
The dangers of Monaco were on show from the opening session, when Leclerc’s Ferrari went into the back of Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin, who himself had moved over to allow a faster car through, and caused a red flag just 10 minutes into the weekend.
According to the NZ Herald report, Lawson struggled to produce a time to challenge the top 10 in the first practice session, but was able to complete 36 laps and produce an 18-lap run on the medium compound, as a means of replicating the likely Racing Bulls strategy for Monday morning’s Grand Prix.
The NZ Herald article also states that Hadjar, meanwhile, was 13th with a best lap of 1m 13.187s, 0.242s faster than Lawson. Like his teammate, though, Hadjar also completed the first session without using the soft tyres.
The report concludes that all drivers will look to improve their pace and secure a strong qualifying position, ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday.
