Kiwi Formula 1 driver Liam Lawson has secured seventh on the grid for the São Paulo Grand Prix after a qualifying session full of surprises in Brazil.
The Racing Bulls driver made his first Q3 appearance since August, delivering a timely result as he continues to fight for a full-time seat in 2026.
Setting a fastest lap time of 1m 09.962s in Q3, it marks the best qualifying result for Lawson since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where he started a career-best third.
The session produced several shocks, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen knocked out in Q1 and forced to settle for 16th.
“Yeah, I have no grip – zero,” the reigning world champion told his team after posting a 1m10.403s lap.
Verstappen’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda, one of Lawson’s rivals for a seat next year, fared even worse, qualifying 19th.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton also made an early exit, putting his Ferrari only 13th on the grid.
McLaren’s Lando Norris continued his strong surge of form and secured pole position for tomorrow’s race, and will be joined by Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli on the front row.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc rounded out the top three, with Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri lining up fourth on the grid.
The Brazil Grand Prix will take place on Monday morning (6am NZT).
A crash-filled sprint race
Earlier in the day, Lawson climbed from 17th to 13th in a chaotic sprint at Interlagos, navigating a wet-but-drying track and several heavy incidents.
The Kiwi was caught up in a lap-one tangle with Haas rookie Oliver Bearman and was handed a five-second penalty and one penalty point.
Bearman was also penalised, first for driving in a manner deemed potentially dangerous, before Lawson was later ruled to have caused the collision.
In their ruling, stewards said Bearman left “insufficient room” as Lawson moved alongside, forcing the Racing Bulls driver to put “two wheels on the wet grass” at high speed.
Lawson’s separate penalty came after officials concluded video footage did not clearly show he had sufficient overlap to be entitled to racing room.
Lawson is now on eight penalty points for the past 12-month period, with the threshold 12 before a ban occurs.
At the front, Norris converted a sprint pole into victory to extend his championship lead, finishing ahead of Mercedes duo Antonelli and Russell.
Piastri wasn’t so lucky, sliding into the barriers after catching the damp kerb at Turn 3- the same corner that also claimed Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and Kick Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg.
With his teammate failing to score, Norris’ win gave him valuable breathing room in the title fight, moving nine points clear.
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