Kiwi Formula 1 driver Liam Lawson will start 12th for tomorrow’s Miami Grand Prix after being eliminated in the second round of qualifying.
The Racing Bulls driver narrowly missed a place in the top-10 shootout for pole, posting a fastest lap of 1m 29.499s on his final run in Q2.
Lawson safely advanced from Q1 after finishing the opening session 12th fastest but fell just 0.429 seconds short of a Q3 berth, ending the session behind Audi's Nico Hulkenberg.
“Honestly, that felt like pretty much everything,” Lawson told his engineer over team radio after the session.
“I made a small mistake in the chicane. I think P11 was maybe there.”
It was still an encouraging result for the Kiwi, who qualified comfortably ahead of his rookie teammate Arvid Lindblad. Lindblad was knocked out in Q1 and will start from 17th.
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes claimed pole position for tomorrow's race, outpacing his experienced teammate George Russell who finished the session in fifth.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen will line up alongside Antonelli in second, with Charles Leclerc third for Ferrari.
Lawson currently sits 10th in the World Drivers Standings, so a points scoring finish will be crucial for the Kiwi to maintain his current momentum.
The Miami Grand Prix gets underway Monday at 8am NZT.
'We definitely still have work to do'
The result comes after Lawson finished 15th in the earlier sprint race around the Miami International Autodrome.
Speaking to media after the race, the Kiwi revealed he had been battling a power issue with his VCARB 03.
“The first probably six or seven laps we had an issue with power, so I kept getting overtaken and I would lose a place every lap,” Lawson said.
“Once we fixed it, it wasn’t actually too bad, but we definitely still have work to do to get towards the guys in the top 10.”
Lando Norris led a McLaren one-two in the sprint, finishing ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri, while Leclerc was third.
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