Lawson claims career-best F1 result despite missing podium in Baku

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Author: Alex Powell,
Publish Date: Mon, 22 Sept 2025, 7:24am

Liam Lawson might not have been able to finish on the podium at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but the Kiwi drove a determined race to finish fifth and claim another career-best result in Formula One.

Having qualified third on Saturday, the pace disadvantage of Lawson’s Racing Bulls ultimately told over the course of 51 laps in Baku, as both Mercedes drivers were able to get around the Kiwi.

However, in what’s without question his best performance in Formula One, Lawson was able to defend that fifth-placing from a host of faster cars, at a time where Red Bull are yet to finalise his future.

Lawson had been seeking to become the first New Zealander to stand on a Formula One podium since Denny Hulme won the Argentina Grand Prix in 1974.

And yet, even with fifth place, given the context of every setback he’s encountered in 2025, Lawson can be more than content at his display on the shores of the Caspian Sea.

In particular, Lawson drove exceptionally in the final laps to hold off a train of four cars faster than his, including the Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda, the McLaren of Lando Norris, and both Ferraris.

“[The result was] rewarding after the last 10 or 15 laps,” said Lawson post-race. “It was pretty intense.

“Obviously, it’s a little bit disappointing from where we started. Realistically, we didn’t have the speed to fight with the guys in front.

“But you’re always hopeful, we tried everything today, it just wasn’t quite enough.

“But still, to have P5 is big for us, especially in the championship, massive thanks to the team.

“We’ve had a good car all weekend, and I’m happy to come home with some points.

“You always want more, though, especially when you start further up. I’d have loved to have finished higher today.

Finishing fifth is the third time this season Lawson has registered a career-best, after taking eighth in Monaco, and then sixth in Austria.

The result sees Lawson bank another 10 points in the driver’s championship, and move from 15th to 13th, and move to within nine of his teammate, Isack Hadjar.

At the front of the grid, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen converted his pole position into victory, keeping slim chances of defending his world championship title alive for another few races at the very least.

The victory is Verstappen’s fourth of the season, and second in succession after winning the Italian Grand Prix at Monza earlier this month.

Mercedes’ George Russell, who had qualified fifth, drove exceptionally after battling illness all weekend to finish second, while Carlos Sainz, who had pipped Lawson in qualifying, finished third.

Meanwhile, on a weekend where McLaren could have claimed the constructors’ championship, Norris was only able to take seventh, and cut into the advantage of world championship leader Oscar Piastri, who hit the wall and was out on the first lap.

That crash saw Norris move 25 points of his McLaren teammate at the top of the drivers’ championship, while Verstappen is adrift by 69.

Further back, Hadjar was able to secure one point for 10th place, albeit having started eighth. Red Bull stablemate Yuki Tsunoda was sixth, his best result since taking Lawson’s place just two races into the season.

And while McLaren are waiting to lift the constructors for a second year in succession, Lawson and Hadjar’s points were enough to leapfrog Aston Martin into sixth, 20 back from Williams after Sainz’s podium.

With his best start in his short Formula One career, Lawson was able to hold third place into turn one, as Piastri hit the wall at turn six to trigger a safety car on the opening lap.

Liam Lawson leads Ferrari's Charles Leclerc at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Photo / Red Bull

As the green flags were waved at the start of lap five, Lawson resumed his quest to remain in the podium places, as Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli tangled with his teammate Russell, looking to get in front of the Kiwi.

At the same time, Hadjar fell two places when he was overtaken by Charles Leclerc and Norris, showing the pace disadvantage that the Racing Bulls car was up against on the long straight in sector three.

Having been quickest through sector three in Friday practice, Lawson was able to hold off Antonelli’s charge, even as Sainz pulled out of DRS range ahead.

At the same time, Antonelli came under pressure from his teammate, albeit as Mercedes did not order its two cars to swap positions, and allow Russell a chance at Lawson.

On lap 19, Mercedes instead pitted Antonelli, as Russell needed no second invitation to attack the Racing Bulls, only for Lawson to pit on lap 21.

While Lawson emerged from the pits clear of Antonelli in 10th and 11th respectively, his colder tyres gave the Mercedes another chance to overtake, which this time the Italian rookie completed going into turn one.

That left Lawson in range of Leclerc, as the Ferrari moved to within range to use his DRS as well. On lap 30, Lawson made up another place as Hadjar pitted, but still faced a battle to keep Leclerc at bay.

More cars pitting in front of him saw Lawson climb to sixth, admittedly just under three seconds ahead of Norris in eighth, who had tyres 17 laps fresher than the Kiwi.

On lap 39, Tsunoda made his one pit stop and dropped from third to fifth, but emerged less than a second in front of his former teammate. And with warmer tyres than Tsunoda, Lawson was able to get around the Red Bull using his DRS zone, and move up to fifth.

That left 11 laps for any of Tsunoda, Norris, Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton to try and overtake Lawson, as light rain began to fall over Baku.

As the laps ticked down and down, Lawson continued to defend with everything his VCARB02 was capable of, as four drivers battled for fifth place.

But even with his car’s pace disadvantage, and no DRS in his favour, the Kiwi did enough to open up a second’s gap to Tsunoda, and complete his best performance in motorsport’s pinnacle.

Formula One returns at the start of October for the Singapore Grand Prix - where Lawson scored his maiden points for then-AlphaTauri in 2023.