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Liam Lawson At Yas Marina

Lawson has finished the weekend with an F2 race win, an F2 podium and fifth on the timesheets for F1.

Lawson has finished the weekend with an F2 race win, an F2 podium and fifth on the timesheets for F1. Giltrap Group supported driver, Liam Lawson, has finished a challenging season in Formula 2 on a high at the final round of the championship at Yas Marina circuit, Abu Dhabi this weekend claiming his fourth win of the season. The weekend was made all the more sweeter with an outstanding practice result behind the wheel of reigning F1 champ, Max Verstappen’s Red Bull car. Lawson clocked the fifth fastest time of the session, only half a second behind Lewis Hamilton and beating Daniel Riccardo and Sebastian Vettel.

Lawson has finished the weekend claiming third overall in the F2 driver’s championship for 2022. It’s been a challenging season but there is no question Lawson has impressed with his performance throughout the F2 calendar this year.

Lawson started the sprint race at Yas Marina in P2 behind Richard Verschoor the pair battled in the dusk conditions, but Pukekohe-born kept composed and seized an opportunity after an early Red Flag restart to overtake Verschoor and converted the race in a dominant fourth victory, taking the chequered flag by almost an eight second advantage.

Lawson was on fire during the main race also, starting back in the field on P9, Lawson’s Carlin team made the critical decision to bring the Kiwi in and be the first to swap their soft tyres to mediums. This enabled Lawson to carve his way through the field and overtake six cars to ultimately finish third on the podium.

A brilliant way to conclude his F2 season.

“Yeah it's a nice way to end it, it has obviously been a pretty rocky season overall but to finish like this is really really nice for the team as well. It’s nice to repay them because the work they've done this year has been really good. It's unfortunate that we just don't have the points to show it. Happy with the weekend and nice to close the season like this.” Lawson said following the main race.

Lawson also participated in the first practice session for Formula 1 at Yas Marina, taking the wheel of reigning Champion, Max Verstappen’s Oracle Red Bull car to establish a base time and gain data for the team ahead of the Grand Prix.

Lawson, who is currently a reserve driver for AlphaTauri (Red Bull’s sister team), caught the attention of the F1 paddock with an outstanding practice session. Finishing fifth on the time sheets, Lawson was the fastest of the non-regular F1 drivers and clocked faster lap times than current F1 drivers Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon.

Lawson made only one minor error during the stint nearly overshooting the Red Bull pit box – as Verstappen is the champion the Red Bull pit box is the first on pit lane. Lawson nearly drove past the markers, apologising to the team over the radio and explaining “I’m used to driving further down!”

Verstappen himself was impressed by Lawson’s drive this weekend and importantly Lawson kept the car straight and delivered valuable data t the team who would go on to win the Grand Prix.

“I’m really happy with how that session went, I think the car came together well. Liam did a really good job in FP1, he was calm and steady which is exactly what we needed,” Verstappen said.

“In FP2 we tried a few things and in the long runs the car was working quite well, so I’m pretty happy with that.”

Lawson has grown more and more comfortable in his free practice sessions for Formula One which bodes well for a full-time opportunity in the future if all the factors can come together.

“It was a really cool experience today, it’s the first time I’ve tested for Oracle Red Bull Racing during a Formula One weekend,” said Lawson.

“I was a little bit nervous before the session, but the car is really good, so I felt comfortable straight away.

“I drove the AlphaTauri [team’s car] in Mexico [in October] but it’s difficult to compare the two as Mexico is a completely different track and at a much higher altitude. Today was a great day and I'm thankful for the opportunity.”