The New Zealander mastered the chaotic, low-grip conditions to claim his second consecutive top-seven start, his third of the season, and his eighth top-ten grid position of the year.

With both Lawson and team-mate Isack Hadjar reaching Q3, the night marked another encouraging step forward for the Faenza squad.

“It was a wild Qualifying session today but I’m very happy with P6,” Lawson said.

“For us to be using an extreme tyre throughout two of the sessions shows just how slippery it was, as we rarely use this tyre.

“The car has been really fast, but we still missed the last lap by a small margin.

“I think we had more speed in the car and the opportunity to be higher up, however to have both cars in Q3 is a great result.”

 

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Racing Bulls Chief engineer of Vehicle Performance Claudio Balestri said the team’s adaptability proved crucial as the track swung between damp and drying across the hour.

He explained that the squad began on intermediates before quickly realising a switch was necessary.

“This morning wasn’t an easy FP3 session with the track neither completely wet nor completely dry, and in Quali, we found conditions difficult as well,” Balestri said.

“We decided to start on the Inter tyres on both cars, similar to the majority of others, but grip was very low, which was evident as soon as we came out of the pitlane.

“For these reasons we decided to change our plan by pitting immediately for the Wets and maximise the track time.”

The team repeated the approach in Q2, where both drivers delivered strong laps before switching back to intermediates for the final shootout.

“The track improved with the rain stopping, so we went onto the Inters for the last session, which was the right call,” Balestri added.

“Both drivers did a really good job improving lap on lap, finishing in P6 and P8. Now we need switch our focus to the race where the target is to get in the points.”

Lawson will now aim to convert his latest standout qualifying performance into further points, aiming for consecutive points finishes for the first time since the Belgian and Hungarian Grands Prix.

Norris takes Vegas pole as late incident ruins Piastri’s charge