Liam Lawson will start 14th in Sunday’s Formula One Miami Grand Prix sprint race, and lamented his car’s performance after being eliminated in the second qualifying session. 

In his first time driving at the Miami International Autodrome, the Kiwi posted a best time of 1m 28.375s, and missed out on a spot in the final qualifying session by 0.525s. 

After progressing through the first sprint qualifying session (SQ1) with the 15th fastest time, Lawson was able to improve one place after Williams’ Carlos Sainz had a time deleted for track limits. 

However, on-board vision showed Lawson slightly lose control at turn 17, which ultimately cost him the time needed to progress. 

“My god, that was so bad,” Lawson was heard saying on his team radio. 

Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli took pole position for the first time in his young Formula One career, getting across the line in 1m 26.482s. 

That makes Antonelli the youngest driver to take pole position - be it for a sprint or Grand Prix - in Formula One history. 

World championship leader Oscar Piastri was 0.045s back to take second, while McLaren teammate Lando Norris was third. 

Fresh from welcoming his first child, reigning world champion Max Verstappen was fourth, 0.255s of Antonelli’s fastest lap. 

Meanwhile, Lawson’s Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar will start ninth, putting in a best time of 1m 27.543s, 0.832s quicker than his teammate. 

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Lawson’s starting position could come under scrutiny, though, after Alpine’s Jack Doohan claimed to have been impeded by the Kiwi in his release from the garage before the first session. 

After setting a first time of 1m 28.914s, Lawson sat 15th after the first qualifying runs, and was the last car to reach the second qualifying stage. 

That, though, came at the expense of Red Bull stablemate Yuki Tsunoda, who was held up by teammate Max Verstappen, and could only set the 18th fastest time, with a 1m 29.246s - his first Q1 exit of 2025 so far. 

Lawson could have posted a faster time in the opening session, but briefly lost control of his car at the turn 14 chicane. 

Perhaps looking to save tyres, given another full round of qualifying on Sunday, Lawson was only able to log one lap in SQ2, and was released from the garage with less than two minutes left in the session. 

And given that lack of time on track, Lawson was only able to post a 1m 28.375s - one thousandth of a second slower than what he’d managed in practice. 

The Miami sprint race gets underway at 4am on Sunday morning, before Grand Prix qualifying at 8am. 

Earlier, Lawson logged the 11th fastest lap in the sole practice for Formula One’s Miami Grand Prix. 

Being a sprint weekend, the 20 drivers are limited to just one free practice session for the entirety of the Grand Prix, with a shorter 19-lap affair on Sunday to complement the 57-lap race on Monday morning (NZ time). 

In his first time racing in Miami, in Racing Bulls’ one-off pink livery for the course of the weekend, Lawson logged a vital 20 laps, and put in a best time of 1m 28.374s. 

Interestingly, Lawson did not log any laps on the medium tyre, which is expected to feature heavily in both the sprint and the Grand Prix. 

However, a late red flag caused by Haas’ Ollie Bearman crashing out saw multiple drivers finish their session’s work without setting a flying lap. 

Lawson’s best effort was 1.246s back from the session leader, Piastri, who set a 1m 27.128s. Current world champion Max Verstappen with the third best time, 1m 27.558s, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc bisected the two with a 1m 27.484s. 

Hadjar continued to impress in his rookie Formula One season, and crossed the line with a fastest time of 1m 27.968s to finish fifth. That effort was 0.406s faster than the Kiwi. 

Promisingly, Lawson improved over the course of the hour-long session. Starting on the hard tyres, Lawson was able to improve in pace as his first stint went on. From a best timed lap of 1m 31.852s, the Kiwi was able to better his time to 1m 29.807s in his first 11 laps of the session. 

That first stint, though, was 1.292s off the early pace, set by Mercedes’ George Russell. 

With just over 30 minutes to go in the session, Lawson returned to track on another set of hard tyres, and again improved his best time by logging a lap of 1m 29.350s. 

In the final 10 minutes, as teams set their focus to logging the fastest possible lap, both Lawson and Hadjar fitted a sole set of soft tyres, as Lawson - naturally - went quicker than he’d done on the hards. 

The Kiwi got around the Miami circuit in 1m 28.374s, but returned to the pits immediately afterwards, as Bearman spun and hit the wall at turn 12 to trigger a red flag, and prematurely end the season with minutes left on the clock. 

In 2024, Daniel Ricciardo achieved Racing Bulls’ best result of the season in the Miami sprint race, qualifying and finishing fourth. 

Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.