Lawson makes Red Bull test appearance ahead of F1 return at United States GP

Liam Lawson was back at the wheel of a Formula 1 car this week, with the New Zealander – who will replace Daniel Ricciardo at RB from the upcoming United States Grand Prix – taking part in a Pirelli tyre test.

Following a rain-hit Tuesday session at the Mugello Circuit, improved weather conditions meant Wednesday’s testing programme could run to plan, allowing Lawson, McLaren’s Lando Norris and Ferrari pair Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc to hit the track.

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Pirelli’s engineers worked on two parallel programmes, with Red Bull and Ferrari focused on development of their 2025 compounds, “especially the hardest in the planned range”, while McLaren ran a mule car to experience prototype 2026 tyres.

A damp start to the day meant all three cars (Ferrari running Sainz in the morning and swapping to Leclerc for the afternoon) initially ran intermediate tyres, before the track gradually dried up and they bolted on slick tyres.

Almost 400 laps were completed over the course of the day, with Norris topping the mileage charts (118 laps and a best time of 1m 21.302s), followed by Lawson (116 laps, 1m 23.219s), Leclerc (79 laps, 1m 21.053s) and Sainz (77 laps, 1m 21.890s).

As well as providing useful data for Pirelli, Lawson’s outing gave the newly promoted racer a chance to reacclimatise himself with F1 machinery ahead of next week’s US Grand Prix at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin.

READ MORE: Pirelli boss Isola gives update on first 2026 tyre test as he reflects on ‘valuable information’ gained

The next stage of Pirelli’s development programme for their 2025 compounds will take place on October 25 during the Mexico City Grand Prix’s second free practice session, which is designated as an in-competition test.

Meanwhile, work on the 2026 prototype tyres will resume on November 13 and 14 at Magny-Cours, France, using a mule car run by the Alpine team.