Liam Lawson at the Japanese Grand Prix on the Suzuka Circuit. Photo: Photosport
Japanese Grand Prix
Starts: 5pm Sunday, 6 April
Suzuka International Circuit
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Liam Lawson said "it was a good day" after getting one over his Red Bull rival, finishing fifth fastest in the second practice session at the Japan Grand Prix at Suzuka.
Australian Piastri finished top for McLaren with 1m 28.114s in what was a heavily disrupted session with four red flags throughout.
However, Lawson produced one of the drives of the opening day, finishing faster than eighth-placed world champion Max Verstappen and significantly quicker than 18th-ranked Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda.
Lawson was dropped last week to Red Bull's junior team Racing Bulls after just two races, with Tsunoda promoted for his home Grand Prix at Suzuka.
The 23-year-old had struggled with the Red Bull Car, crashing out in the wet in Melbourne and finishing last twice in Shanghai.
He emerged far happier after producing quality laps in a different vehicle and at a Japan circuit he knows well.
Lawson said he'd received encouragement from Racing Bulls director Laurent Mekies as soon as his demotion was announced.
"Everybody's been very, very positive. Even from last week, Laurent [Mekies] was straight on the phone, and very, very positive, and saying all the things I needed to hear," Lawson said.
"I've spent a lot of time with this team, they're a great bunch of people. It is nice to feel that welcome back again.
"It was a good day," It was nice to be driving, nice to be driving at Suzuka again. It's a really cool track."
"Obviously tomorrow is the important one."
Liam Lawson. Photo: photosport
The third and final practice session was scheduled for Saturday afternoon (NZT) following by an evening qualifying session. The Grand Prix itself will be raced from 6pm on Sunday.
Head to head
Such is the interest in the ongoing duel between young drivers Lawson and Tsunoda, the New Zealand TAB has opened a 'Driver Match Bet' for New Zealand customers, asking which of the two drivers would finish higher up the field.
Lawson was paying $2.80 on Saturday morning, with Tsunoda more favoured at $1.38.
However, Lawson's prospects had brightened in bookmakers' eyes because of his slick practice display, having originally paid $4 in the head-to-head market.
Tsunoda told journalists he has simply been told by Red Bull bosses to get as close to his world champion teammate Max Verstappen as possible.
The 24-year-old delighted his home crowd at Suzuka by steering the tricky RB21 to the sixth-fastest time in the first practice session, only a tenth of a second behind Verstappen.
Yuki Tsunoda Photo: photosport
It was an encouraging start for Tsunoda, even if four red flags meant he did not have a chance to back it up in the second session.
"I think we can say today was okay, but it could have been better," Tsunoda said.
"FP1 was better than FP2, I gained a lot more learnings. We didn't set a lap time in FP2 due to the number of stops in the session, you could maybe call the session a shambles for everyone.
"Overall, it is okay and I am happy to have confidence in the car. "
Tsunoda's aptitude came as no surprise to Mekies, who watched him mature as a driver under his charge last season and for the first two races of this campaign.
"We have seen him being more calm, being more mature, improving massively his technical feedback," the Frenchman said.
"Really quite an incredible step across the last 12 months, and this is converting to speed ... I think it was a very impressive example of improvement. You can sense how much effort and concentration he's been putting into that."
Although Japan has long had a presence in Formula One through the grand prix, car manufacturers and tyre producers, none of the 18 Japanese drivers who have competed in the championship have ever won a race.
