'Very, very happy': Lawson equals best qualifying of the season in Barcelona

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Author: Alex Powell,
Publish Date: Sun, 14 Jun 2026, 8:49am

Liam Lawson has earned another top 10 start, and will begin Formula One’s Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix in eighth.

On a circuit that saw him miss the points by one place last year after a late safety car, the Kiwi bettered his 2025 qualifying result of 13th, and starts inside the top 10 for the third time this season.

Starting eighth sees Lawson equal his best starting position of the season so far, after doing the same in Melbourne to open the year.

Lawson’s best lap in the third qualifying session (Q3), 1m 16.542, was slower than he managed in the second, but was understandable after his efforts were hampered by a late red flag when Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc crashed at turn four.

“[I’m] pretty happy,” Lawson said post-qualifying. “To be honest, it’s been a trickier day than yesterday.

“I just put one really good lap together in Q2. I’m very, very happy. We’re in a good place for tomorrow.

“We’ve had a fast car all weekend. Tomorrow’s going to be a very tough race, I’m sure.”

Starting eighth gives Lawson the chance to continue the form that sees him sit 10th in the drivers championship, and picked up points in all but two race weekends this season.

After Red Bull’s Ford engine was declared to be the best on the grid by the FIA – motorsport’s governing body – the organisation has three of its four cars in the top 10, with Lawson’s teammate Arvid Lindblad having to settle for 11th.

Outqualifying Lindblad was a huge win for Lawson, who had his first day of practice ended prematurely by a broken gearbox.

As he fights back against junior teammate Kimi Antonelli, George Russell claimed pole with a lap of 1m 14.679s.

Hunting his sixth win in succession, Antonelli was just 0.319s behind Russell to start third, while Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton claimed second place, 0.064s back from the leader.

However, with track temperatures so far this weekend have consistently touched 50 degrees, tyre strategy is going to be arguably as important as car performance, with potential three-stop strategies on the cards for drivers.

The Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix begins at 1am on Sunday morning (NZT).

Returning to the track after narrowly missing the top 10 in the weekend’s final practice session, Lawson’s first timed lap, 1m 16.673s saw him temporarily climb to ninth, but fell as other drivers improved around him.

Once all 22 drivers had posted a lap, Lawson was 11th, and was 1.457s clear of elimination, with just over five minutes remaining in Q1.

With the track cooling as drivers began their final laps, Racing Bulls didn’t send either of their cars back out in an attempt to save tyres, leaving Lawson with a nervous wait to advance into Q2. That gamble paid off, though, as he snuck through by just 0.4s in 15th place.

Lawson’s opening effort in Q2, 1m 16.180s, saw him temporarily set the third-best time of the session, and had him ninth by the time the remaining 16 drivers were able to set a lap, with 0.480s up his sleeve to advance.

As the clock ticked down, Lawson returned with just over three minutes remaining in the session, and was able to improve once more to post a 1m 15.585s to climb to eighth, and give himself a buffer of 0.255s, to advance at the expense of his teammate.

Into Q3 for the third time this season, Lawson’s first lap – on a set of used tyres – was ruined when Leclerc crashed at the exit of turn four to trigger a red flag, and delay the session for more than 10 minutes.

Once the session resumed, Lawson didn’t continue on his old tyres, and effectively gave himself just one shot at posting a time, on his final set of softs.

With less than three minutes to set a lap, Lawson was able to outqualify Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg by 0.115s, and equal his best starting position of the year.