Liam Lawson faces cautious return ahead of Singapore Grand Prix, nzherald.co.nz reports

Liam Lawson faces a cautious return to the Formula One grid ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, contrasting a difficult 2025 weekend at the Marina Bay Street Circuit with a stronger championship position this season, nzherald.co.nz reported.

The Singapore Grand Prix Marina Bay Circuit Return

Last year’s visit to Singapore proved challenging for Lawson. He hit the wall in both the second and third practice sessions, which left him short of essential track time before qualifying 14th. A strategy gamble did not pay off during the 61-lap race, and he crossed the finish line in 15th place for AlphaTauri.

This year brings a different trajectory. Lawson sits ninth in the world drivers championship with 65 points following a seventh-place finish at Sepang in Malaysia. He holds a 24-point margin over Alpine driver Pierre Gasly in the battle to secure the title of best of the rest outside the top four constructor teams.

Lawson Keeps Racing Bulls Ahead of Alpine

Lawson has contributed 51 of his points directly to Racing Bulls. That tally keeps the team ahead of Alpine in the estimated $180 million battle for fifth place in the constructors championship while his future remains unconfirmed.

The weekend schedule features a sprint format, cutting the usual three practice sessions down to a single session. Lawson acknowledged the format change while looking ahead to the event. With sprint weekends, you get two shots at everything, Lawson said. We’ve recently started the weekends quite strong, now it feels like everyone else has caught up. Hopefully we can start strong here.

Describing the venue, Lawson added: But it’s just a sick track, [it’s] really, really cool. And it’s a night race as well – I’m excited.

Racing Bulls Use Intermediate Tyres in Rain

Heavy rain is forecast for the race, a factor that could alter the competitive balance on a street circuit where overtaking is typically difficult. Racing Bulls demonstrated strong wet-weather pace last week at Sepang despite a 90-minute delay, as Lawson finished seventh and teammate Arvid Lindblad climbed from last to 10th.

That performance relied on a team call to start both cars on intermediate tyres while rivals gambled on slicks on a damp track. The decision helped Lawson achieve what he termed the best start of his Formula One career, which included a battle with Max Verstappen for third place into turn one.

Reflecting on the prospect of wet conditions, Lawson noted: Here, specifically, [rain] would be definitely interesting. It would be cool to have more wet races through the year. We haven’t really raced in the wet since last year.

Friday Practice And Saturday Sprint Qualifying Schedule

The weekend’s solitary practice session is scheduled to begin at 9:30 pm NZT on Friday. Sprint qualifying follows at 1:30 am NZT on Saturday.