Kiwi teen Liam Lawson completes impressive Formula Two debut with second podium

New Zealander Liam Lawson is second overall in the Formula Two standings after a successful debut weekend in Bahrain.

The 19-year-old won the opening sprint race, spun off in the second and then finished third in Sunday’s (Monday NZ time) feature race behind China’s Guanyu Zhou and Britain’s Dan Ticktum.

The Hitech GP driver is 11 points adrift of Zhou heading into the next round in Monte Carlo on May 20-22.

“Extremely happy to finish third, it’s a really good haul of points,” Lawson said.

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“We were just saying last year when I was in Formula 3, one of the most exciting parts of the weekend was sitting down to watch the F2 race so it’s crazy to now be a part of it and feel what it’s like for all of these guys. I am enjoying it so far, learning a lot and there’s still a lot more to be learnt as we go on.”

Fellow New Zealander Marcus Armstrong is 10th in the standings, carving through from a start position of 14th to finish fifth in the feature race.

Formula Two is one tier below the pinnacle of single-seater racing, Formula One. Last year’s championship was won by Mick Schumacher – son of legend Michael Schumacher – who has since moved up to race for Haas in F1.