Source: Radio New Zealand
New Zealand F1 driver Liam Lawson. MPS AGENCY / PHOTOSPORT
New Zealand driver Liam Lawson had a positive second day in his new Racing Bulls car at the Barcelona F1 Shakedown.
Teams have run their new spec 2026 cars behind closed doors at the Circuit de Catalunya.
Lawson described his first outing earlier this week as “very, very different” as he struggled to get to grips with the new design which this year means the cars are smaller and lighter with no DRS and more electrical power.
However after completing the morning session on Thursday, Lawson appeared to be happier.
“We just keep learning,” Lawson told F1.
“We’re making, obviously, big gains, but so is everybody else. Very, very different cars, but in a much better place than we were on Monday, which is the main thing. We just need to keep learning and improving the car.”
“The main goal is to just try and keep learning and improving the car and discovering what we can.”
Unofficially Lawson got through more than a hundred laps today and recorded a best time that was two seconds slower than the Mercedes of George Russell.
New team-mate Arvid Lindblad got behind the wheel in the afternoon session.
Aston Martin made their first appearance on Thursday.
Adrian Newey’s first Aston Martin, the AMR26, hits the track in the Barcelona Shakedown! #F1 pic.twitter.com/ytWJSs0s2F
— Formula 1 (@F1) January 29, 2026
The Barcelona Shakedown concludes on Friday.
Formula 1 has two test sessions in Bahrain in February with the opening round of the 2026 championship in Australia on 8 March.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
