Liam Lawson had to 'fight his brain' during staggering Azerbaijan GP qualifying

Liam Lawson conceded to "fighting his brain" to land the best qualifying result of his F1 career.

Lawson will start a sensational third on the grid at the Baku Street Circuit in his Racing Bulls after a qualifying session that included an F1 record six red flags.

After McLaren's Oscar Piastri crashed with less than four minutes remaining of Q3, Lawson was a provisional second. Only three drivers had set a time at that stage.

With very light rain in the air, Lawson managed to improve on his time to land third spot behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Williams' Carlos Sainz.

Assessing the nearly two-hour session, the New Zealander said: "I can't even remember what happened, it was so busy.

"I said it would be, but I didn't expect it to be like that, honestly, but the car has been good all weekend, and when we needed it to be in qualifying, it was good.

"So a massive thanks to the guys and girls. The team has been amazing this week so far, but tomorrow is the important day."

Reflecting on the conditions in the final minutes, Lawson added: "It's always sketchy.

"You can see the rain coming on your visor, and you can feel it, and you can see the gloss on the track, but because the tyres are still warm, you have grip.

"So you're trying to fight your brain to not back off and keep pushing, but it was definitely tricky."

As to his hopes of a strong result, he said: "It's going to be a very hard race, for sure.

"We've a great starting position, but we're aware of who we're fighting around us, and that's what we'll be focused on."