'What the hell just happened?' Lawson qualifies 19th for Canadian GP

Kiwi F1 driver Liam Lawson will have to fight from the back of the grid to score points this weekend at the Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.

The Racing Bulls driver only managed to go 19th fastest during qualifying- a disappointing result after a strong run in all three practice sessions.

Lawson posted a fastest time lap time of 1:12.525s, his quickest of the weekend so far, but not quick enough to secure a place in Q2, missing out by just 0.140s.

"What the hell just happened? I have no idea." the Kiwi said on the radio to his race engineer, Ernesto Desiderio, after the disappointing result.

Lawson said the tyre set-up was the likely cause of his early Q1 exit.

“We’ve been struggling to make the tire work on the first lap, all weekend." said Lawson after qualifying.

"The first run in Q1, I had to do a build lap to have them in the right window, and we didn’t do a build lap in the last run, and I just didn’t have much grip through the lap”

“It’s pretty disappointing, the car has been fast.”

The Kiwi will start 18th on the grid for tomorrow's race, after Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda was handed a 10-place grid penalty for overtaking under a red flag during practice.

Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar went ninth-fastest in qualifying, continuing his impressive run of form in his rookie season, but will start further down the grid after being hit with a three-place grid penalty for impeding Williams' Carlos Sainz.

Mercedes driver George Russell secured pole position for the second year in a row, ahead of reigning world champion Max Verstappen and current championship leader Oscar Piastri.

The Canadian Grand Prix will take place Monday morning (6am NZT).