Fast but frustrated: Lawson eyes more points after Singapore qualifying

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Author: Alex Powell,
Publish Date: Sun, 11 Oct 2026, 9:47am

Liam Lawson will eye a second lot of points in as many days, after earning another top-10 start for Formula One’s Singapore Grand Prix.

After finishing fifth in a chaotic 20-lap sprint race earlier in the day, Lawson will start Monday’s (NZT) Grand Prix eighth on the same circuit where he scored his first Formula One points for then-AlphaTauri in 2023.

Lawson’s best lap time of 1m 32.369s in the final stage of qualifying (Q3) was good enough for ninth, but the Kiwi has already gained one place before the lights go out on the streets of Marina Bay, with Mercedes’ George Russell confirmed to take a grid penalty for changing his engine, and to start from the back row.

Perhaps frustratingly, though, Lawson’s quickest times came in the second session (Q2), and he finished 0.144s behind Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in the battle to be “best of the rest”.

“It wasn’t a great lap,” Lawson said afterwards. “I pushed a bit too hard in Q3.

“We had a really quick car today and had the potential to be one place higher. It’s not the end of the world, [but] you want to put together the best lap in Q3, and I didn’t.

“It’s a bit frustrating, but it’s a long race tomorrow.”

As a good omen, though, Lawson’s two previous sprint points finishes this year have also returned top 10 results in the preceding Grands Prix, coming in China and at Silverstone.

Despite a strong run of points finishes, including seventh in Malaysia last week, Lawson’s qualifying result marks his first top-10 start for Racing Bulls since Silverstone, excluding two in his three-race stint as an injury replacement for Red Bull.

Liam Lawson drives in Singapore. Photo / AFP

Lawson will also start one place ahead of Racing Bulls teammate Arvid Lindblad, who finished 0.412s behind the Kiwi to qualify with the 10th fastest time on his first trip to Singapore.

At the front of the field, four-time world champion Max Verstappen will eye a clean sweep of the weekend after qualifying first for the Grand Prix, to go with his victory and pole from the sprint race.

The Red Bull driver’s best lap of 1m 31.373s was 0.054s faster than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in second, while Lewis Hamilton and world championship leader Kimi Antonelli start on the second row.

Winning the sprint marked Verstappen’s first Singapore chequered flag, meaning he’s now won on every circuit he’s driven, bar Madrid.

The Singapore Grand Prix begins at 1am on Monday morning.

After a 30-minute delay to qualifying, to give teams time to breathe after the sprint race in the wet, Lawson was one of the first drivers on track in Q1, but his opening lap was disrupted when Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll triggered a yellow flag at turn seven after hitting the wall.

Still, a first lap of 1m 34.913s was enough for Lawson to sit ninth by the time all 22 drivers had attempted their opening laps, with more than a second to the elimination zone. As the track improved, so did Lawson, as the Kiwi put in laps of 1m 34.765s and then 1m 32.885s to advance to Q2 with the fourth-fastest time.

Again, Lawson improved on his time to open the second stage of qualifying, posting a lap of 1m 32.741s to sit eighth after the first runs and with 0.433s up his sleeve for a top 10 finish. That gap to elimination would increase to 0.465s, after the Kiwi went better once again to finish Q2 with a lap of 1m 32.319s, and earn his eighth top 10 start of the year, so far.

Lawson’s only real frustration, though, will be that his best times came in Q2, after he could only manage 1m 32.369s in his final attempt of the session.