After a disappointing qualifying session 1 before the first race of the weekend then a heartbreak incident on lap 1. Things are looking more promising for the Ferrari driver ahead of race 2.
The qualifying session still did not finish without causing more unnecessary annoyance for the drivers.
Rowe Racing’s BMW of Timo Glock spontaneously stopped only 2 corners away from the finish line causing the session to be red flagged with 2 mins remaining.
Many drivers were out of the pits attempting to set their fastest flying lap with limited time left. Two drivers had even set fastest sectors which were all unfortunately put to waste with the red flag being waved.
Young Kiwi Lawson was looking good on his final flying lap but also got caught amidst the red flag situation having to revert to his previously set lap time of 1.27.605.
Liam provisionally qualified 7th but Spanish driver Daniel Juncadella, who qualified 4th, received a 5 position grid penalty boosting Lawson up to 6th.
His 3rd row start is a much better result than race 1’s 10th position start. Liam’s 1st place rival Kelvin Van der Linde only managed to qualify 2 places ahead of Lawson in 4th due to the red flag near the end of the session.
After yesterday’s short race the Kiwi said: “That[crash on lap 1] is really disappointing, of course, there was nothing I could do, but the action continues tomorrow already.”
There is a low chance of rain for the race on this afternoon (Belgian time) which could have made the race more unpredictable. But at least after yesterdays efforts by Alex Albon it seems the team are well practiced in their pit strategies which bodes well for a higher finish for Liam.
Hopefully Lawson can stay out of trouble this race and make some more of those exciting overtaking maneuvers he is well known for!
Here is how the qualifying ended: (with the exception that Juncadella moved down 5 spots):