New Zealand’s Liam Lawson clocked the 18th fastest time in free practice for Formula One’s Chinese Grand Prix, as the Kiwi continues to come to terms with Red Bull’s new RB21 car.

With just an hour of available track time, given the truncated nature of the sprint format, Lawson got through 23 laps in the only practice before Friday night’s (NZ time) qualifying.

The Kiwi put in a best time of 1m 33.631s, but was more than two seconds back from McLaren’s Lando Norris, who set the fastest time of the session with 1m 31.504s.

Lawson’s teammate and reigning world champion Max Verstappen could only manage the 16th best time of the session, and crossed the line with a best of 1m 33.145s.

However, Verstappen’s best times came on the slower medium compound, while Lawson’s fastest came on the soft tyres. In fact, when comparing the pair’s fastest times, Lawson was more than half a second off Verstappen in the third sector alone.

Practice is never a guarantee of results on track, given teams look to make use of the available time to trial different tyres, aerodynamic configurations, and fuel loads before qualifying.

Unlike Melbourne, Lawson and Verstappen ran the same nose and front wing configurations, after the Kiwi wasn’t afforded parity with his teammate at Albert Park.

After failing to finish last weekend’s season opening Australian Grand Prix, Lawson’s efforts to come to grips with the RB21 will continue into another weekend.

The car is notoriously designed to accentuate Verstappen’s strengths, even if it comes at the expense of his teammates - seen by the struggles of Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and Sergio Perez before him.

As was the case with Melbourne, this was also Lawson’s first taste of the track, as one of the five rookies who hadn’t driven on the Shanghai International Circuit in the past - given China’s absence from the Formula One calendar during Covid-19.

In the opening laps, Lawson came off early at turn four, the end of the long left-hander into a right-hander - Formula One’s longest corner. However, Lawson can at the very least take solace in the fact Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc did the same, as did Alpine’s Jack Doohan - who caused a red flag with 13 minutes to go in the session.

Regardless, the Kiwi can still be seen to be at a disadvantage to the rest of the grid, with only hours to rectify any issues before sprint qualifying.

Asked about the pressure he’s facing as Verstappen’s teammate, though, Lawson said he has the full confidence of his team as he comes to grips with the job he’s been asked to do.

“Obviously I know that there’s no guarantee in Formula One,” he said. “I know how Red Bull is, and that if you go through half the year not performing, that they’ll have no difficulty in switching you.

“So it’s not that I have a guarantee, but it’s more, you know, we’ve done the prep before the season and it’s a more, I guess, rounded set-up that I’ve had now than I’ve ever had in previous years.”

Sprint qualifying takes place later on Friday, before the 19-lap sprint race is held on Saturday afternoon. Qualifying for the Grand Prix itself will take place on Saturday night.

Alex Powell is an Online Sports Editor for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016, and previously worked for both Newshub and 1News.