Liam Lawson unleashed a 2011 Red Bull RB7 atop the legendary Mount Panorama Bathurst circuit in a demonstration run of “pure fun” and “the coolest thing he has ever done.”
The almost 21-year-old New Zealander who will be embarking in his inaugural Super Formula championship campaign in Japan with Team Mugen gave The Mountain a shot between Qualifying sessions for the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour at Mount Panorama.
Lawson, a Red Bull F1 reserve, completed the much-anticipated run doing several demonstration laps complete with a burn out and donuts in what was an absolute thrill for the fans attending the Bathurst 12hr on Saturday.
With interruptions in each lap, a timed lap was not produced although using trackside signage for reference and offsetting the lap, Liam produced a lap time pace of 1m 57 seconds. A dozen years ago Jenson Button blasted around in 1m 48.8 in a McLaren MP4-23, which remains the fastest unofficial lap delivered at Bathurst to date.
It’s completely crazy!
Afterward, Lawson declared: “That is probably the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my life to be honest. I did one lap in a safety car this morning to get an eye for this place but doing it in a Formula 1 car is just yeah, it’s completely crazy.
Lawson opened up the RB7 down the Conrod Straight releasing a magnificent howl from the V8 engine, something not heard from an F1 car since the introduction of the hybrid era in 2014.
“It was flat, just like completely flat through the chase braking at like probably at like 120, 130 metres something like that.”
“The car was actually really really good it handled the bumps really well, over the top it was really fast, yeah that was very cool. Doing something like this in a car grew up watching, it’s pure fun,” added Liam.
What a sight. And what a sound. @LiamLawson30 just gunned a @redbullracing RB7 around Mount Panorama!#IGTC | #B12Hr 🦘 pic.twitter.com/rsyqJ6q1jN
— Intercontinental GT Challenge (@IntercontGTC) February 4, 2023
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