On Wednesday, Lawson drove the Red Bull RB21 for the first time and completed just over the whole race distance. As he came out of Turn 2, his run was broken up by a spin and a few minutes.

Unsettled and bringing the back around, the New Zealander seemed to catch the apex kerb at the left-hander. The car seized again as he resisted the slide, sending him into a half spin in the other direction. He skidded to a stop without any damage or incident outside of a set of flat-spotted tires. Isack Hadjar of Racing Bulls had a situation at Turn 4 later in the day, and Lawson was one of two drivers to become untangled. “The winds pretty tricky out there,” reasoned Red Bull team boss Christian Horner. “I think it just caught him out on the exit of Turn 2.