‘You’re trying to fight your brain’ – Lawson celebrates top three start after tricky Baku Qualifying

Liam Lawson achieved the best Qualifying result of his Formula 1 career ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as he capitalised on the chaos of the session to take third position.

The Racing Bulls driver will join Carlos Sainz in the top three on the grid tomorrow after clocking early fast laps in Q3, with Max Verstappen the only driver who could beat the midfield teams to pole position.

After four red flags across Q1 and Q2, Lawson was one of the first out on track in Q3 and managed to set a lap before Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc slammed into the wall just a few minutes in.

While his car was recovered, light rain made the track surface more slippery, and everyone struggled to find grip once they returned to the circuit. This culminated in Oscar Piastri crashing into the barrier with 3m 41s remaining, leaving just one opportunity for the drivers to improve their times.

“Honestly I can’t even remember what happened, it was so busy,” Lawson summarised. “I didn’t expect it to be like that, honestly. The car has been good all weekend and when it needed to be in Quali, it was good so a massive thanks to the guys and girls. The team’s been amazing this weekend so far, but obviously tomorrow is the important day.

“It’s always sketchy because you see the rain coming on your visor and you can feel it, and you can kind of see the gloss on the track, but because the tyres are still warm you have grip. You’re trying to fight your brain and not back off and keep pushing. It’s definitely tricky.

“It’s going to be a very hard race. We have a great starting position but obviously we’re aware of who we’re fighting around us, and that’s what we’re focused on.”

Verstappen was not the only driver to jump up the timesheets as both Mercedes, Yuki Tsunoda, and Lando Norris cut down their times marginally, demoting Hadjar to eighth place by the end of the disrupted session.

Having made his mark as a rookie with consistently impressive Qualifying results, he was underwhelmed by his performance, especially with his team mate shining in the top three.

He said: “It was tricky. We handled it perfectly until the final corner of the final lap. That’s it. The car is fast, but we are not supposed to be starting eighth.”