Liam Lawson Shines in Practice Sessions at British Grand Prix, Secures Two Top-10 Finishes

Just a week after his career-best finish in Austria, New Zealand’s Liam Lawson has continued his impressive form at the British Grand Prix, logging two top-10 finishes in the first two practice sessions at Silverstone. The young Kiwi driver set the eighth-fastest time in Free Practice One and the 10th-fastest in Free Practice Two, with a best lap of 1m 26.624s.

Lawson completed a total of 55 laps across both sessions, demonstrating consistent improvement throughout the day. His best time in FP1 was 1m 27.351s, which he bettered by 0.727s in FP2, highlighting his growing adaptability to the high-speed technical demands of Silverstone.

Securing top-10 finishes in both Friday practice sessions has now become a recurring theme for Lawson this season, with similar performances in Barcelona and Canada. For local fans, the weekend has already seen an exciting start, with more than half a million expected to attend the race weekend.

McLaren’s Lando Norris led the times in FP2 with a blistering 1m 25.816s, while Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton topped FP1. World champion leader Oscar Piastri and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed closely, rounding out the top five in FP2. The competition remains fierce, with 12 cars managing to beat Hamilton’s FP1 time in FP2, underscoring the parity among the top teams this season.

Lawson’s teammate at Racing Bulls, Isack Hadjar, also showed strong pace, finishing sixth and ninth in the two sessions. Both Racing Bulls cars are expected to focus on long runs in FP3 to fine-tune their race strategies. Notably, neither car used the hard tires in the first two sessions, suggesting a planned strategy for Saturday night’s final practice.

Despite the challenging conditions, including high-speed wind gusts, Lawson remained composed. In FP2, he briefly climbed to fourth after fitting fresh soft tires, before switching to medium tires for a long run to simulate race-day conditions. Earlier in FP1, he was eighth fastest, just 0.459s behind Hamilton. Norris and Piastri followed closely, with Norris only 0.023s behind the leader and Piastri 0.150s back.

Lawson’s performance at Silverstone is particularly notable given his limited experience in Formula One. With just 11 starts across Formula Three and Formula Two, including one win and three podiums, he has quickly proven his adaptability and skill at one of the most iconic circuits in the world. His time of 1m 27.351s was just 0.081s slower than Verstappen’s in FP1, and he finished 0.134s behind Hadjar in FP2.

During FP1, Lawson managed to avoid an incident with Haas’ Ollie Bearman at Luffield corner, and after a clean lap, he moved up to sixth. He completed 26 laps across four stints in FP1, helping Racing Bulls evaluate their race strategy and car configurations.

On the other side of the grid, Red Bull’s young prospect Arvid Lindblad, making his first Formula One appearance, struggled to keep up, posting the 14th-fastest time. Given the difficulty of the RB21 and Lindblad’s inexperience, it was a tough session for the 17-year-old. However, his performance will be closely watched as he continues to develop.

Qualifying for the British Grand Prix is set to begin at 2am NZ time on Sunday. With consistent form and a strong track record at Silverstone, there is growing optimism that Lawson could deliver another strong performance in what has become one of his favorite circuits.

As the weekend progresses, all eyes will be on the young Kiwi to see if he can maintain his momentum and potentially climb further up the grid in the highly anticipated race.