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Lawson’s “good potential” goes unrewarded at RB’s home race

Liam Lawson, Visa Cash App Racing Bulls, leads Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto on track during the 2025 F1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.

By Reese Mautone

Eager to celebrate Racing Bulls’ home race in style, Liam Lawson was determined to turn his Imola luck around on Sunday, but despite flashes of potential, disruptions turned the Kiwi’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix into a race of what could have been.

Having lost out to bad luck in Qualifying on Saturday, Lawson was condemned to start Sunday’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix from 15th on the grid, surrounded by fellow rookies as the field charged into the first braking zone. 

Tussling for position with the Sauber ahead, Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto ran side by side into Tamburello, however, caution prevailed and the RB driver was forced to back out of the attack, settling into an unmoving P15. 

He remained stagnant through to his first pitstop on Lap 10, where he relinquished the medium compound for the more comfortable hard compound as he rejoined towards the back end of the field.

Showing pace on the C4, Lawson used the significant tyre advantage and a dose of DRS to pick off Esteban Ocon down the main straight, but that proved to be one of the few highlights in an otherwise unfortunate 63-lap outing that was disturbed by Virtual and full Safety Cars.

“Pretty disappointed for everybody, we just got caught by Safety Cars today,” Lawson said. 

“We had good potential and had pace all weekend but unfortunately we weren’t able to show it and that’s what put us down the back. 

“It’s been a difficult weekend but I’ll keep working hard to turn it around.”

Lawson took advantage of the reduced pit loss on Lap 29 as he pitted for a second time during the VSC that was declared to clear his earlier Haas rival’s stricken car, however, with his neighbouring competitors also following suit, there was no positional gain. 

The Kiwi clawed his way up to fourteenth when a full Safety Car neutralised the race with just over 15 laps remaining, before spending the final Sprint to the line successfully fending off a closing attack from Lance Stroll.

Crossing the line with just over five-tenths of leeway to the Aston Martin, Lawson ended the Faenza-based outfit’s home race in P14, while Isack Hadjar added to RB’s small but growing points tally with a solid 9th place finish in Imola.

The Kiwi now switches his focus to the huge task ahead of him around the streets of Monte Carlo, with the second race of the European triple header right around the corner.

“We are always learning with the car, every weekend I’m getting more used to it, we are heading in the right direction,” Lawson said.

“Monaco is an iconic track and it is my first time, I’m excited to get there; it is very special and will be one to get up to speed with quite quickly. 

“I’m looking forward to going there and getting right back into it.”

It wasn’t all doom and gloom for the home team, however, with Racing Bulls Team Principal Laurent Mekies highlighting how special it was to have so many team members from the Faenza factory trackside — a welcome boost of morale at their home Grand Prix, even if the on-track results didn’t go their way.

“After travelling the world for the past three months, it’s been an enjoyable experience to return to Europe and our home race,” Mekies said. 

“Thanks for a great job by everyone back in Faenza and Milton Keynes; we ran a few upgrades across both cars, and with the factory just a short distance away, a large number of staff were able to come to the track, with seats in our own dedicated grandstand to see the result of all their hard work. 

“It’s encouraging to see that the changes to the car delivered the pace to put us in the fight in the sharp end of the midfield. 

“Although Isack and Liam know Imola well, neither had raced an F1 car here before and the narrow track, tricky kerbs and waiting gravel traps present a real challenge. 

“Plus, all the drivers had to deal with the unknown of Pirelli’s softest C6 tyre. 

“Overall, the performance this weekend was strong, both in Qualifying and in the race, with P9 in both cases for Isack.”

On the Kiwi’s first Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, Mekies added: “Liam’s weekend certainly looked more difficult overall, but we can see that his speed is there in the data, and again today he was particularly unlucky with the safety cars timing.” 

“We now head straight to Monaco, a very different type of track, but the lessons learned here will still prove useful, especially as regards to Qualifying, often the key moment on the streets of Monte Carlo.”

RB scored four points at last year’s Monaco Grand Prix, with Yuki Tsunoda finishing the precision-focused race in P8 while Daniel Ricciardo ended his final Monte Carlo showing in P12.

With the team currently sitting on 10 points in a tight Constructors’ Championship battle, Lawson will need to break his points drought and join Hadjar on the points-scoring list to help RB move up the order in a week’s time. 

The first practice session of the iconic weekend will kick off at 21:30 AEST on Friday, May 23. 

Image: Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool.

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