Formula 1 driver Liam Lawson has taken plenty of positives from his first day on track at Monza, describing Friday's practice running as "productive" as he continues his latest stint with Red Bull.
The Kiwi made an encouraging start to his Italian Grand Prix weekend, finishing fourth-fastest in the opening practice session (FP1) with a quickest lap time of 1m 23.433s, before ending FP2 in 12th.
"It was okay. It's been, I would say a productive day," Lawson told media after Friday's running.
"We spent most of FP2 just long running, so we did a short run at the start and it felt okay. Then we just did two long runs on the soft and the hard [tire]."
Lawson's 1m 23.660s effort in the second session left him 12th, but just 0.283 seconds behind teammate Max Verstappen, who finished ninth.
Much of Lawson's session was instead focused on gathering longer-run data as the 24-year-old continued to build his understanding of the Red Bull car.
The Kiwi is back behind the wheel of the Red Bull for the second weekend in a row after being called up to replace an injured Isack Hadjar at last week's Dutch Grand Prix.
Lawson put in a strong showing at Zandvoort, securing a seventh-place finish. Yuki Tsunoda stepped into Lawson's seat at Racing Bulls.
Hadjar was ruled out of Monza earlier this week after failing to recover from his wrist injury, leaving Lawson and Tsunoda to continue in their respective stand-in roles for another weekend.
Lawson described Friday's running at Monza as "good learning", as he continued to get to grips with the Red Bull car.
"I think we struggled more — I struggled more — at Zandvoort in the race than quali," he said. "So I’ll try and learn what I can from it.”
Friday's running also highlighted the importance of picking up a tow around Monza's high-speed layout, something Lawson said Red Bull would discuss ahead of qualifying.
"For sure, it's something we'll discuss, and we'll come up with a plan."
At the front of the field, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc topped the time sheets in FP1 with a fastest lap time of 1m 23.00s, while George Russell of Mercedes went quickest in FP2 with a fastest lap time of 1m 22.559s.
Qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix will take place on Sunday (2am NZT) before the main race on Monday (1am NZT).
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