Liam Lawson 'Baffled' by Monaco Turnaround After 'Struggling'

Liam Lawson acknowledged he's struggling to fully explain how Racing Bulls transformed a faltering Monaco Grand Prix package into a top-10 qualifying contender. After languishing near the bottom of the timesheets throughout all three practice sessions, Lawson surged to 10th on the grid, marking the 250th grand prix start by a New Zealander in Formula 1 history.

Why it matters:

The result halts a worrying slump for Lawson, who arrived in Monaco convinced the low-speed, high-downforce nature of the street circuit would play directly to his car's strengths. A top-10 start salvages a weekend that looked lost after practice and provides critical momentum for a driver under mounting pressure to string together clean, consistent performances.

The details:

• Friday misery: Lawson placed 19th, 16th, and 15th across the three practice sessions, leaving the team scrambling to explain a pace deficit that seemed wildly out of step with pre-weekend expectations.
• Aggressive overhaul: Racing Bulls implemented far more setup changes than a typical race weekend allows, a high-risk gamble that paid off as Lawson progressed through qualifying with 13th, ninth, and then 10th in the respective segments.
• Q3 limitations: While Q2 produced a strong lap, Lawson fought tire warm-up issues in the final shootout. He attempted a second push lap and found additional time through Monaco's tight opening sector, but rear degradation prevented him from piecing together a perfect effort.
• Unsolved mystery: Despite the breakthrough, Lawson stressed the team must fully understand why the car started the weekend so far off the pace. Without that answer, he warned, the underlying issue could resurface at the next low-speed venue.

What's next:

Starting 10th on Monaco's narrow, unforgiving streets gives Lawson a genuine opportunity to score points if he keeps his nose clean in a race where overtaking is nearly impossible. The bigger challenge comes after the chequered flag, as Racing Bulls must diagnose the Friday-to-Saturday disconnect to ensure this performance reflects genuine engineering progress rather than a fortunate one-off.