Liam Lawson ends qualifying agony after controversial Red Bull exit

Liam Lawson finally ended his qualifying agony this season following his controversial departure from Red Bull.

During his two grands prix with the team in Australia and China, after his promotion over the winter as the replacement for Sergio Perez, Lawson suffered one-lap misery.

The 23-year-old New Zealander failed to make it out of the first session of qualifying over both weekends, miserably finishing slowest at the Shanghai International Circuit for the sprint and grand prix.

After the race in China, Red Bull decided to instigate a driver swap, demoting Lawson to Racing Bulls whilst promoting Yuki Tsunoda to partner Max Verstappen at Red Bull.

With all eyes on Lawson for Q1 ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, Lawson was under pressure to deliver, especially as he was one of the last to cross the line to start his final flying lap.

Mercifully for Lawson, he scraped into Q2, laying to rest his hoodo for this year, doing by a slender margin of just 0.016s over Nico Hulkenberg in his Stake.

Lawson failed to make the top 10, however, as a small consolation he out-qualified Tsunoda by 0.094s. The duo will start 14th and 15th respectively.