That time saw Lawson miss out on a place in Q3 by just 0.089s, which went to Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.
For just the second time in his career and first since Singapore 2023, Lawson outqualified his teammate, with Hadjar to start 14th in Monday’s Grand Prix.
The 23-year-old’s previous best start this season was 13th, coming in his first race for Racing Bulls at Suzuka.
“It’s obviously good to extract everything out of the car,” Lawson said after qualifying.
“But it’s just a shame. The midfield is so close right now and it’s clear that Alpine and Williams have made a step somewhere recently.
“It’s up to us to try and match that. We did a really good job with the car this weekend.
“We’ve been chasing it hard in these sessions. We put together the best package we had today.
“We’ve just got to keep working. [Points are] the target, but it’s going to be hard, for sure.”
Lawson’s starting position could improve even higher, after McLaren’s Lando Norris crashed out in Q3. Depending on the repairs needed to fix Norris’ car, Lawson could move up to 11th, if the McLaren needs to start from the pit lane.
World champion Max Verstappen took pole position for the second time this year, with a best lap of 1m 27.294s. Every race so far in 2025, and to finish 2024, has been won by the driver that started on pole.
Fresh from winning last week’s Bahrain Grand Prix, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was second, just 0.010s back from Verstappen.
Having been demoted by Red Bull after just two grands prix, Sunday’s (NZ time) qualifying performance was another step in the right direction for the Kiwi, whose lack of a full pre-season in Racing Bulls’ VCARB02 car has been apparent in comparison to his teammate.
Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Corniche Circuit is one of the most challenging on the Formula One calendar. Despite three practice sessions across Friday and Saturday, cars still struggled in qualifying.
Both Hadjar and Williams’ Alex Albon hit the wall in the first qualifying session, while Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto’s chances of progressing were wiped out when he spun at turn one.
After being the last driver to set a timed lap in Q1, Lawson’s best effort of 1m 28.782s was enough to see him into the second session with the 14th best time. That mark saw Lawson through by 0.084s, while Hadjar was just 0.01s back in 15th as the final car to advance.
Come Q2, Lawson was again the last of the 15 drivers to set a time, and only left the pits with less than four minutes remaining in the session.
And while Lawson was only able to record one timed lap in the second session, it was still enough for the Kiwi to achieve his best start of the season.
Tyre management will be vital in the Grand Prix; all cars barring Bortoleto are down one set of soft tyres after the high temperatures on track during Friday practice meant higher rates of degradation.
Earlier, Lawson logged the 13th fastest time of the third and final practice session, and added another 18 laps to his tally for the weekend.
Those 18 laps, in addition to the 39 the Kiwi registered on the opening day overnight on Friday (NZT), take Lawson’s tally to 57 for the weekend, greater than the 50-lap distance of the Grand Prix.
Lawson’s practice three time of 1m 28.861s was his best of the weekend so far, and bettered his 1m 29.488s by 0.627s, as well as adding more laps on a circuit the Kiwi is driving for the first time in a Formula One car.
Hadjar, meanwhile, put in the 11th fastest time, and was 0.092s quicker than his Racing Bulls teammate in practice three.
Helping Lawson’s confidence even further are his results at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in junior categories. In 2021, on his first visit there, Lawson finished second in the Formula Two sprint race. A year later, he won that same race.
