On a Friday in Mexico City, where the thin air of high altitude tests brakes and tyres alike, Liam Lawson spent the opening session watching from the garage and then, when his chance came, made the most of a single run. It is a small story inside the long calendar of motorsport, one about a driver who waits his turn and still finds his place near the front. Ahead lies a final practice session on Sunday morning and qualifying at ten, when the questions raised on Friday will meet the harder test of a full effort.
Liam Lawson Posts Encouraging Mexican Grand Prix Start with Top-10 Finish After Verstappen Clash
Lawson shattered that time with his first mark on the same compound
Mark
Lawson only drove one session and still ended in the top 10. Is that the headline?
Mimi
It's the encouraging part. He sat out FP1, then on soft tyres in FP2 his first mark beat Tsolov's best from the morning, 1m 19.604s.
Luke
Worth noting that's one lap on one compound. We don't have his race pace or any long-run data from this report.
Mark
And Tsolov, the rookie who drove FP1?
Mimi
Twelfth-fastest, 1.476s off Leclerc, third among the rookies. But he had to leave the car briefly with what he described as lost blood flow in his right leg.
Luke
That's his own description. The report doesn't give a medical explanation, only that the seat was custom fitted to Lawson.
Mark
Why does the altitude come up?
Mimi
Tsolov complained of smoking brakes early on after pushing too hard in Mexico's high altitude.
Mark
And Antonelli's title chance?
Mimi
He can take the drivers' championship with ninth or better this weekend. He was fourth in FP2, 0.217s off Leclerc.
Luke
Practice times don't decide that. Fuel loads and engine modes are unknown, so the gaps are only a rough guide before qualifying.
Der Puls
- Lawson sat out the opening session and was thrust back into the car only for the second, with no warm-up to lean on.
- Rookie Tsolov fought thin-air brakes and a painful cockpit fit, climbing out mid-session as his leg lost blood flow.
- Lawson set a soft-tyre lap that erased his rookie teammate's best, landing just outside the top six in a Racing Bulls one-two-style day.
- Antonelli's championship hopes hang on a ninth-place finish or better, raising the stakes for every session still to come.
- Sunday's final practice and 10am qualifying will show whether Friday's quick lap holds up over a full, demanding run.
On a Friday in Mexico City, where the thin air of high altitude tests brakes and tyres alike, Liam Lawson spent the opening session watching from the garage and then, when his chance came, made the most of a single run. It is a small story inside the long calendar of motorsport, one about a driver who waits his turn and still finds his place near the front. Ahead lies a final practice session on Sunday morning and qualifying at ten, when the questions raised on Friday will meet the harder test of a full effort.
Liam Lawson spent the first session of the Mexican Grand Prix weekend in the garage, watching someone else take his seat. By the end of Friday, he had still earned a top-10 result from the only practice session he drove.
His Racing Bulls seat went to Bulgarian rookie Tsolov for FP1, a first taste of a Formula One weekend. When Lawson returned for FP2 on soft tyres, he set a lap that wiped out Tsolov's best on that compound and finished in the top 10, just 0.066s behind teammate Arvid Lindblad. Racing Bulls had a strong day on both counts.
Tsolov's debut was harder going. He was 12th in FP1 and third among the rookies, but he complained of smoking brakes in the thin air and had to climb out when he lost blood flow in his right leg, despite a seat fitted to Lawson's cockpit.
At the front, Charles Leclerc again set the pace in FP2, with Lando Norris second and Kimi Antonelli fourth. Antonelli can clinch the drivers' championship with a ninth-place finish or better, which gives his session extra weight.
Teams have one more practice on Sunday morning before qualifying at 10am. The open questions are how Lawson's quick lap holds up over a full run, and how everyone manages the brake and tyre demands of altitude.
Liam Lawson spent the first session of the Mexican Grand Prix weekend watching from the garage. By the end of Friday he had still managed a top-10 result, set in the only practice session he drove.
Lawson sat out FP1, and his Racing Bulls seat went to Bulgarian rookie Tsolov, who was getting his first taste of a Formula One race weekend. When Lawson returned for FP2, he went out on soft tyres and set a first mark that wiped out the best lap Tsolov had managed on the same compound. Tsolov's best had been a 1m 19.604s. Lawson finished FP2 in the top 10, 0.066s behind his teammate Arvid Lindblad, who was seventh. Lindblad had also been 10th in FP1, so Racing Bulls had a strong first day on both counts.
Tsolov's own morning was solid. He set the 12th-fastest time in FP1, 1.476s off the pace of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and 0.126s behind Lindblad in the same car. Among the rookies who took part he was third-fastest, behind Mercedes' Fred Vesti, who was third overall, and Red Bull's Ayumu Iwasa, who was fifth. Vesti arguably had the best session of anyone, with a best lap just 0.074s off Mercedes regular Kimi Antonelli.
The session was not without problems for Tsolov. He had to climb out of the car for a time after he said he was losing blood flow in his right leg, even though the seat had been custom fitted to Lawson's cockpit. Early on he also complained of smoking brakes, after pushing too hard in the thin air of Mexico's high altitude.
In FP2, Leclerc again set the pace. Lando Norris, who had also skipped the first session, was second, 0.103s behind the Ferrari. Antonelli was fourth, 0.217s off Leclerc's time.
Antonelli's result carries extra weight this weekend. The Mercedes driver can clinch the drivers' championship by finishing ninth or higher in Mexico.
Teams get one more practice session on Sunday morning, followed by qualifying at 10am. How Lawson's quick lap translates to a full-length session, and how teams manage the brake and tyre demands of altitude, will be the things to watch.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
Tsolov said he was suffering from a loss of blood in his right leg, which forced him to leave the car temporarily.— Tsolov, as reported by the NZ Herald
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