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Liam Lawson drives for Red Bull in Mugello Pirelli tyre test
Liam Lawson continued his recent Red Bull outings by taking part in a two-day Pirelli development test at Mugello.
By Michael de Vries - 2026-08-28T14:00:31.000Z - 2 min read
Formula 1 tyre supplier Pirelli completed a two-day development test at Mugello this week, working alongside McLaren, Red Bull and Audi to evaluate compounds slated for the 2027 season. The test venue saw active track running over Wednesday and Thursday, focusing specifically on the three hardest rubber options in the manufacturer range, running from the C1 to the C3 compounds.
Liam Lawson stepped back into the cockpit for Red Bull on Wednesday, continuing a busy period after he filled in for the injured Isack Hadjar at Zandvoort over the preceding grand prix weekend. Lawson completed 116 laps during his Wednesday programme, setting a personal best lap time of 1:22.297 while concentrating heavily on the C2 tyre specification.
Oscar Piastri shared the track on Wednesday behind the wheel of the McLaren, completing 93 laps with a fastest time of 1:21.358. Unlike Lawson, the Australian sampled all three of the hardest compounds made available by the Italian manufacturer, meaning their respective lap times remained incomparable due to the differing run plans and testing objectives assigned by Pirelli.
The second day of running on Thursday brought a fresh lineup of drivers to the Tuscan circuit. World champion Lando Norris took over testing duties for McLaren, completing 115 laps and posting the day's benchmark time of 1:21.899 while focusing exclusively on various C2 prototype options.
Red Bull utilised reserve driver Ayumu Iwasa on Thursday, who logged 117 laps and recorded a fastest effort of 1:23.414 as the sole driver of the day to evaluate all three target compounds. Meanwhile, Audi joined the track action with Nico Hülkenberg, who completed a race distance equivalent of 121 laps with a best time of 1:24.012, splitting his evaluation work between the C2 and C3 specifications.
Across the two-day development test, the participating squads from McLaren, Red Bull and Audi accumulated a combined total of 2,948 kilometres of data for the tyre manufacturer. Development running for the upcoming rubber generations will resume on September 15 and 16 at Imola, where Ferrari and Racing Bulls are scheduled to take over testing responsibilities.