Lawson left stranded in Q1 after Imola Red Flag drama

Liam Lawson’s hopes of reaching Q3 came crashing down after an ill-timed Red Flag interrupted his final flying lap, leaving the Kiwi powerless to respond and condemning him to a heartbreaking Q1 elimination in Imola.

Lawson came into the hour shootout with the firm belief that a place in the top ten was well and truly on the cards, however, a poor twist of fate would see the right to compete stripped from the RB driver in the dying seconds of Q1.

Taking a patient approach as he started qualifying around the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Lawson remained in his garage for a prolonged moment before venturing on track for his first run.

Midway through his outlap, however, his process was brought to a halt when a lengthy Red Flag was declared to clear the car he once called his own after Yuki Tsunoda flipped into the tyre barriers at the Villeneuve chicane.

After learning that his former teammate was okay after the heavy shunt, Lawson refocused his mindset to the now-limited Q1 session ahead of him — one in which he was still yet to post a time.

Breaking that drought, the Kiwi set an initial time of 1:16.379s which left him as the driver at-risk in P15, while his teammate Isack Hadjar tracked just one-tenth ahead. 

Having returned to the pitlane, Lawson got set to launch for his final attempt, leaving among the barrage of cars as the track burst to life once again.

Focusing on tyre warm-up, the #30 wound his way through the iconic 19 corners in Imola; however, before he could cross the line to start his push lap, another stroke of bad luck hit RB at its home race.

Red Flags waved again after Franco Colapinto found the barriers at Tamburello, the Argentine catching too much kerb and spinning into the same spot where Hadjar came unstuck in FP2 — but this time, there was no recovery from the heavy, nose-first impact.

The majority of the field was impacted by the disruption to the session, with Lawson, sitting down in P16, copping the worst outcome of all. 

“Not getting to do the last lap was a shame,” Lawson said.

“We unfortunately missed out due to the red flag and it ruined our Qualifying. 

“We did one run with a compromised out lap and we never got the opportunity to go again, it’s just one of those sessions. 

“It’s one of the toughest Qualis, when you put the car on the limit there is no run off and if you go over it there is a price to pay, which we saw today with Yuki — I’m glad he’s okay.” 

The Kiwi’s fastest time of 1:16.379s earned him 16th on track, however, a one-place grid penalty for Colapinto, who entered the fast lane of the pitlane before the official session restart time had been confirmed, allows Lawson to take the start from P15.

He will line up alongside the Argentine for tonight’s 63-lap Grand Prix, with the fellow rookies of Gabriel Bortoleto and Kimi Antonelli his first targets on the road.

As for his RB teammate, Hadjar impressed once again by advancing to Q3, securing a P9 grid slot and extending his flawless streak of Q1 escapes in 2025.

“This track is so exciting, it raises the heart rate, it’s exciting for us to drive but it’s a compromised race now as it’s a hard track to overtake on,” Lawson said.

“A straightforward strategy will be hard, we will try and make something happen but it’s going to be a tough race.”

Lights out at Racing Bulls’ home race will take place at 23:00 AEST, with Lawson remaining realistic about his odds of scoring his first points haul of the season in Imola. 

Image: Peter Fox/LAT Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool.

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