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Lawson finds his feet on a confidence-boosting Friday in Monaco

Liam Lawson driving the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls VCARB 02 on track during practice at the 2025 F1 Monaco Grand Prix.

By Reese Mautone

Liam Lawson capped off Friday at the Monaco Grand Prix with a confidence-boosting P5 in FP2 — a result that left the Kiwi encouraged, yet focused, as he stressed the need to “keep chasing” ahead of tonight’s all-important Qualifying.

Lawson’s first taste of Formula 1 action around the streets of Monaco wasn’t quite smooth sailing, with the RB rookie experiencing a disrupted, but valuable, start to his sixth Grand Prix weekend with the Faenza-based outfit in 2025.

The eager Kiwi guided the queue of cars out of the pitlane to start Free Practice 1, clocking a few miles of experience before the early stages of the session were brought to a halt due to a collision between Lance Stroll and Charles Leclerc. 

Once the debris had been cleared and the Red Flag was lifted, Lawson was back out on the hard compound, quickly discovering how tricky traffic can be to navigate on the tight 3.3km circuit.

The RB driver came within touching distance of Lewis Hamilton through the final chicane, with the Ferrari driver backing off at the final turn in a bid to build a gap of his own to the car further down the road.

Lawson’s race engineer, Ernesto Desiderio, didn’t hold back over team radio, remarking “Yeah, usual Hamilton stuff, that’s okay” as the Kiwi was forced to brake sharply to avoid a potential repeat of the earlier Red Flag incident.

From there, Lawson’s morning got more complicated. 

Running 2.5 seconds off the pace, the #30 reported a “really bad” smell in the cockpit and blamed his brakes as he returned to his RB garage for a checkover.

With the issue supposedly under control, he commenced his first medium tyre stint, working to close the midfield gap as the minutes ticked by. 

Though progress was steady, he finally broke under the two-second deficit with a 1:13.510s effort in the final ten minutes.

A small improvement just before the flag saw Lawson end the session in P17 — not where he’ll want to stay, but a solid first chapter as he builds into his maiden Monaco Grand Prix.

“It’s been a positive day for us, it’s one of those tracks where you’re building up the whole weekend,” Lawson said.

“We made a good step from this morning but naturally tomorrow everyone will keep progressing and we need to keep chasing. 

“We made a lot of changes today and we will keep working.” 

Leading the field out for a second time on Friday, Liam Lawson didn’t shy away from the continued challenge of the Monaco streets, kicking off FP2 on the C5 compound with an initial time of 1:14.237s. 

His session was briefly interrupted by a Red Flag, triggered by teammate Isack Hadjar, who misjudged Turn 10, whacking his rear wheel into the unforgiving barriers.

After a short pause in the RB garage, Lawson was one of the last to rejoin the action. 

When he did, the #30 quickly shaved half a second off his previous effort before another disruption brought the session to a halt again. 

Back on track, he switched to the medium compound and climbed to P12 before bolting on the C6s.

The fresh softs rewarded the Kiwi with a 1:12.674s, which he bettered moments later with a 1:11.823s — a lap that propelled him into the top three alongside Leclerc and Norris. 

His following runs were hampered by what RB called “traffic paradise,” as the leaders’ teammates disrupted his flow and knocked him out of his impressive top-three standing.

Still, Lawson completed 32 laps across the hour and ended the session with his best time intact, closing out FP2 in a confidence-boosting P5 heading into Saturday.

“I’ve raced here before in other Formula’s but it’s much better in an F1 car, it’s faster and way more compliant,” Lawson said.

“It’s a nice car and really fun, it’s special to drive around here. 

“Tomorrow is the important day, we will focus on making another step in FP3 and try put ourselves in a good place for Qualifying.”

The final hour of practice will kick off at 20:30 AEST, followed by Lawson’s first competitive run around the Circuit de Monaco during Qualifying at 00:00 AEST.

Image: Clive Rose/Getty Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool.

2025 Monaco Grand Prix Schedule (AEST):

Friday, May 23:

FP1: 21:30 – 22:30

Saturday, May 24:

FP2: 01:00 – 02:00

FP3: 20:30 – 21:30

Sunday, May 25:

Quali: 00:00 – 01:00

Race: 23:00

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