Liam Lawson last as Lewis Hamilton qualifies first for Chinese Grand Prix sprint race
Saturday, 22 March 2025
Liam Lawson has qualified last for the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton will start from pole position in Saturday’s sprint race, with Lawson’s Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen starting from grid 2.
Follow live updates from Saturday’s sprint race that starts at 4pm (NZT) from 3.45pm.
Liam Lawson will start Saturday’s Chinese Grand Prix sprint race from the back after a disastrous qualifying session.
Just like he was in Melbourne last week, Lawson found himself in the slowest five cars and was eliminated in Q1 on Friday night (NZT).
At the front of the grid, in just his second attempt, Lewis Hamilton has scored his first pole position for Ferrari in lap record fashion, with a time of 1:30.849, around the Shanghai International Circuit.
Lawson’s team-mate Max Verstappen recorded the second fastest time and will start alongside Hamilton on the front row.
Oscar Piastri, Charles Leclerc and George Russell rounded out the top five.
In a major shock, Australian Grand Prix winner Lando Norris qualified back in sixth after a mistake in Q3.
After his initial flying lap in Q1, Lawson struggled to cool his front tyres for another crack.
“I guess I have to go like this,“ Lawson said over his team radio.
He was forced to abort that second attempt when he made a minor mistake with his tyres going up on the ripple strip, costing him valuable time.
“I’m really sorry, but honestly, I just could not get the tyres down (in temperature),” Lawson said over the team radio.
“It was OK for the first part but the second part of the lap (was not).”
Lawson also had his final lap time deleted for exceeding track limits.
“Just a lack of experience really to get to where the tyres needed to be,” F1 analyst Martin Brundle said.
Brundle’s colleague, Karun Chandhok, said Lawson was struggling for grip with the rear of the car squirming around.
“It’s not a driver who I would say is full of confidence and able to commit to the apex,” Chandhok said on the SKY Sports broadcast.
“To me, the body language I’m seeing from Lawson in contrast to Verstappen, is just that he doesn’t have the confidence to attack the corner entries with the steering wheel.
“He’s tentative, he’s nervous, he’s not comfortable or confident driving that car.”
Red Bull was working on Lawson’s RB21 right up until the session started with a laser looking at the heights of the car but whatever the changes were, they clearly didn’t work.
The 23-year-old Kiwi had earlier struggled in practice, recording the 18th fastest time.
Fernando Alonso, Oliver Bearman, Carlos Sainz, Gabriel Bortoleto and Isack Hadjar went out in Q2.
Jack Doohan, Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg, joined Lawson in going out in Q1.
Sprint race qualifying results: Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri, Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Lando Norris, Kimi Antonelli, Yuki Tsunoda, Alex Albon, Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso, Oliver Bearman, Carlos Sainz, Gabriel Bortoleto, Isack Hadjar, Jack Doohan, Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg, Liam Lawson.
The Chinese Grand Prix begins at 8pm (NZT) on Sunday night.
– Follow live updates right here on Stuff from 7.30pm Sunday.