Hastings teenager Liam Lawson has capped a stellar 24 hours for NZ motorsport, claiming his maiden Formula Three race win in Austria.
The 18-year-old followed IndyCar veteran Scott Dixon, who won the Indy Grand Prix on Sunday morning, and fellow teenager Marcus Armstrong, who scored a second-place F2 finish a few hours later at the Red Bull Ring.
Starting fifth in the reverse-grid race, Lawson calmly worked his way to the front within a couple of laps and was never headed.
Lawson is a genuine Formula One prospect, as one of the most talented drivers in the Red Bull junior programme, which has produced current top-level drivers Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and Daniel Ricciardo.
"It was a good race," Lawson says. "Starting from P5, I had to get through to the front as quickly as I could, because I knew we had a strong car at the start, but once I got there, I ran out of tyres.
"I think that I actually got lucky with the safety car, because without it, I think it would have been tough to stay in front.".
Lawson was sixth in Sunday's first race, which was won by championship leader Oscar Piastri of Australia.
Meanwhile, Armstrong, 19, was unlucky in his second race of the weekend, running strongly in third spot at the midway point, before mechanical failure cut his day short. Armstrong ended the weekend in sixth place in the championship.
