Kiwi Liam Lawson will start 15th on the gird for the US Grand Prix sprint race in his first drive as a fulltime racer for Red Bull.
After cooling his heels in pitlane through the opening months of the F1 championship, Lawson, 22, replaced Aussie Daniel Ricciardo in a RB Formula One Team Honda for the final six rounds, beginning with this weeke's event at Austin, Texas.
After recording the 13th-fastest time (1m 34.443s) in practice, he graduated past the first sprint qualifying session in 12th (1m 34.617s), but could not crack the too 10 in Q2, after his lap (1m 34.284s) was disallowed for running off the track.
Significantly, he was faster than teammate Yuki Tsunoda in Q1, but the Japanese driver improved with each lap, progressing to Q3 and qualifying ninth in 1m 33.802s.
Three-time defending champion and championship leader Max Verstappen grabbed pole position for the sprint race, pipping Englishman George Russell in 1m 32.833s
Lawson stepped into the Alpha Tauri car last year, when Ricciardo broke his hand, gaining a championship point for his ninth placing at Soingapore, before handing the wheel back to the Australian.
He and co-driver John Kennard are the first non-Europeans to defend the title.
Motorsport
Mon, Oct 14
This week, Lawson opted to use the number 30 on his new Racing Bulls Formula 1 car.
Motorsport
7:24pm
2:07
Kiwi driver will feature for his team RB at the United States Grand Prix in Texas.
Motorsport
Fri, Oct 18
The US sprint event is scheduled for Sunday morning (NZ time), followed by qualifying for the 56-lap main event, which takes place on Monday morning.
More to come
