Kiwi F1 driver Liam Lawson has continued his recent run of good form in the sport, qualifying 10th for Monday's (NZT) British Grand Prix main race and claiming another championship point in the earlier 17-lap sprint race.
It was a strong qualifying performance for the Racing Bulls driver, who made the final stage of qualifying (Q3) for the fourth consecutive race, putting himself in a strong position to challenge for points in tomorrow's 52-lap event.
Despite the result, Lawson said he felt there was more pace in his VCARB O3 after his fastest lap of the day of 1m 29.300s came in the first round of qualifying (Q1).
"I didn't improve from Q1. Luckily the car was fast enough to go through, but compared to ourselves we went slower in every session," he said post-qualifying.
"We lost the balance, we'll try to fix it. The race car was good today, so hopefully it will be good tomorrow.
"There's also quick guys behind, but I think we have a good enough car to fight for points."
The Kiwi will look to better his showing from last year's British Grand Prix, where he was forced to retire on the opening lap after a collision.
At the front, championship leader Kimi Antonelli claimed pole position with a blistering final lap of 1m 28.111s, finishing 0.175s ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.
Nine-time Silverstone winner Lewis Hamilton completed the top three for Ferrari, while Mercedes' George Russell qualified fourth. McLaren's Lando Norris, who won last year's race, will start from sixth.
Lawson's Racing Bulls teammate Arvid Lindblad also reached the final stage of qualifying, securing a ninth-place start for tomorrow's race in front of his home crowd.
The British Grand Prix will take place Monday morning (2am NZT).
Sprint point continues Lawson's momentum
Earlier, Lawson banked another championship point after finishing eighth in the 17-lap sprint race, claiming the final points-paying position with only the top eight finishers rewarded.
Lawson briefly came under post-race investigation for moving under braking while defending his position from Red Bull's Isaac Hadjar, but escaped with a warning and retained his points-scoring finish.
"It was really the best we could've done," Lawson said after the race, acknowledging his "good fight" with Hadjar.
The sprint was won by Antonelli, who overtook pole-sitter Hamilton on lap eight before pulling away to secure his first victory since Monaco.
"It was a very fun first 10 laps with Lewis, we were both pushing very hard," the 19-year-old said.
Hamilton held on for second, while Norris completed the podium after a late battle with Russell and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
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