Liam Lawson crashes out of Singapore FP3: Racing Bulls face tight repair window ahead of qualifying

Liam Lawson crashes out of FP3 ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix

Liam Lawson crashed out of the third practice session ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, causing a red flag. The Racing Bulls team now has just over three hours to repair the car ahead of the qualifying session.

After crashing during FP2 yesterday, the Racing Bulls driver started Saturday off on the wrong foot as he collided with the barriers at Turn 7 after riding the kerb on the exit.

The crash caused significant damage to the front wing and the suspension.

The New Zealander quickly confirmed that he was OK and was able to exit the car unassisted. "I'm so sorry. I don't even know what happened. I just got the kerb,” the 23-year-old explained over the team radio.

Sky Sports F1 analyst and former F1 driver Anthony Davidson commented during the broadcast: "You have to lift out of it. As painful as it is, as soon as you get on the kerb. You just don't know which tyre will pick up the grip."

He added: "Hopefully he'll have a car to jump into for qualifying. It's the second time they're going to have to repair the right-hand side of that Racing Bulls."

Lawson suffered a similar crash during the second practice session on Friday after catching the kerb at Turn 16 and crashing at Turn 17. The incident ripped the front-right tyre off and caused damage to the right side of the car.

Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls Team

Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images

“Just I got a little bit too much kerb in [Turn] 16 and bounced me across to the left, and then I took too much kerb in 17, and then just tried to carry the speed, and right at the last minute, lost it and hit the wall," Lawson explained after FP2.

“So, it’s a shame. I think overall, the car is very fast. It’s been fast today. We had a difficult [F]P1, I tried some things and have reversed, and it felt a lot better in P2, felt a lot more comfortable up until that point.

“So yeah, it’s frustrating to obviously end the session in the wall, but up to that point, it was strong, and at least short run pace at the moment looks quite good.”