Source: Radio New Zealand
Liam Lawson finished seventh place finish in the Grand Prix. MARCEL VAN DORST / AFP
New Zealand driver Liam Lawson admits to being a little surprised with his success at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Lawson had arguably his best weekend in Formula 1, capping off the weekend with a seventh place finish in the Grand Prix. It followed the same result in Saturday’s sprint race.
His haul of eight points has him ninth in the standings after two rounds.
While the hard tyres were the preferred option, Lawson had to start the main race on mediums from 14th on the grid, but soon made inroads in yet another chaotic start which included the late withdrawal of the two McLarens.
Unfortunately he lost places after he was pitted early just before the field was slowed by a safety car.
He then completed the rest of the race on his last set of hard tyres, picking up places as others faulted.
He was able to keep former team-mate Isack Hadjar at bay over the closing laps and moved up to seventh when the other Red Bull driver Max Verstappen was forced to retire his car.
Liam Lawson at the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix. FLORENT GOODEN / PHOTOSPORT
The results was Lawson’s 11th top-10 finish of his career. His best results was fifth at the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
“I’m really happy with our result today,” the 24 year old said afterwards.
“To be honest, we didn’t quite expect it, but our pace was strong towards the end. We had a poorly timed Safety Car, and at that moment I thought our race might be over.
“It turned out to be a really enjoyable race and we managed to pull off a few overtakes. Bringing it home in P7 feels great.
“Full credit to the team from a strategy standpoint, we did everything right this weekend and securing two point finishes shows how well the team executed. “
Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane was also chuffed with their performance over the weekend.
“To come away with a total of 8 points from a weekend where we clearly weren’t quick enough is an exceptional result for the team. It was a very well executed race.
“We were unlucky with the Safety Car as we pitted Liam the lap before, but he drove a really great race. He was under a lot of pressure at one stage from Hadjar and didn’t put a foot wrong, delivering a solid result.”
Winner Mercedes’ Italian driver Kimi Antonelli celebrates on the podium after the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix, 2026. HECTOR RETAMAL / AFP
Lawson’s team-mate Arvid Lindbard finished 12th.
Italian Kimi Antonelli scored the first win of his young Formula 1 career, heading championship-leading team-mate George Russell in a Mercedes one-two from pole position.
The 19-year-old Italian driver became the second-youngest race winner in the sport’s history, after Verstappen.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton finished a distant third, the seven-time world champion’s first podium since he joined Ferrari last year.
The next round is in Japan in a fortnight.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
