Lawson steers Racing Bulls to consecutive Q3 showings

Liam Lawson secured his second consecutive Q3 appearance in a “tricky” Qualifying session at the Hungarian Grand Prix, leading the Racing Bulls line-up as the team maintained its upward momentum with both drivers breaking into the top ten.

On his first flying lap around the 4.38km circuit, Lawson split the Red Bull drivers but found himself nervously close to the elimination zone, posting only the 14th fastest time to start Q1.

Following a short stint in the garage and with the clock ticking down, Lawson prepared for one final push, crossing the line with just 12 seconds remaining in the session before digging deep to find the necessary pace through the 14 corners.

Delivering three personal best sectors, the Racing Bulls driver climbed safely out of the drop zone, however, the celebration was bittersweet for the Red Bull camp when Lawson narrowly edged out Yuki Tsunoda by just five hundredths of a second, knocking the Red Bull driver out of Qualifying as he advanced to Q2.

Lawson began his Q2 campaign in ninth, setting a lap that left him just under a tenth of a second clear of the elimination zone in another nail-biting moment for the Kiwi.

From there, nine proved to be his lucky number, as Lawson again secured P9 with a fastest Q2 time of 1:15.630s on his second attempt.

Holding a slim six-hundredths gap over the slowest five drivers, the Racing Bulls driver clinched his spot in the top ten shootout. 

RB teammate Isack Hadjar joined him, marking a strong double Q3 qualification for the Faenza-based squad.

Lawson was among the first to head out at the start of Q3, initially setting the seventh fastest lap despite being over 1.2 seconds off the pace.

After a brief return to the pitlane, the Kiwi rejoined the fight with less than two minutes on the clock, charging through the first sector to set a personal best.

He continued that trend through Sectors 2 and 3 to record his fastest time of 1:15.821s, placing him in a temporary P8 before Verstappen instated himself as the quickest Red Bull representative in the dying stages of Qualifying.

“It’s good to be in Q3, it’s been a… to be honest, quite a difficult weekend so far, so it’s good to at least be in the ten,” Lawson said.

“But, to be honest, it wasn’t an amazing lap in general.

“I think the conditions changed a bit through Quali and kind of went away from us a little bit, so yeah.

“It’s a bit of a shame, we missed out on probably a couple of spots there, but tricky conditions for everyone.”

When the chequered flag fell in Budapest, the Racing Bulls teammates settled into P9 and P10, rounding out the top ten and putting their best foot forward in the hopes of a points finish tonight.

“The car’s been very good recently, so obviously, the team has been doing a very, very good job,” Lawson said.

“[The car is] nice to drive, and we had decent long-run pace so it’s really tricky [to know where we stand].

“I mean, I guess… Qualifying’s very important here and it’s decent today, but tomorrow, obviously, is going to be a long race.”

Changeable conditions and a shuffled grid will play a part in the teammates’ ability to hold on to their top ten positions, with the launch into the first turn the most critical point of the race, given the lack of overtaking opportunities on offer at the Hungaroring.

Lights out for the Hungarian Grand Prix will take place at 23:00 AEST tonight.

Image: Simon Galloway/LAT Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool.

2025 Hungarian Grand Prix Schedule:

Friday, August 01:

Free Practice 1: 21:30 – 22:30

Saturday, August 02:

Free Practice 2: 01:00 – 02:00

Free Practice 3: 20:30 – 21:30

Sunday, August 03: 

Qualifying: 00:00 – 01:00

Race: 23:00

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