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Autosport
Autosport
Sport
Andrew van Leeuwen

Button's Bathurst lap record stands after Lawson's Red Bull F1 demo

Liam Lawson lapped Mount Panorama in a V8-powered Red Bull RB7 today in a special demonstration run at the Bathurst 12 Hour.

There was a lot of anticipation heading into the weekend that the demo, with the car that carried Sebastian Vettel to his second world title in 2011, could yield a new unofficial Bathurst lap record.

The Bathurst benchmark was set in 2011 when Button stopped the clocks at 1m48.8s in a 2008 McLaren MP4-23.

However there was no record-breaking effort from Red Bull, with Super Formula convert Lawson not even breaking the two-minute barrier.

Still, the Kiwi was left overwhelmed by his first experience of the Bathurst circuit.

"That was probably the coolest thing I've ever done in my life," he said. "It was really, really cool.

"I did one lap in the safety car this morning to get an eye for this place. Doing it in a Formula 1 car is completely crazy.

"The first lap I was honestly so nervous, but after that it actually felt really good.

Liam Lawson, Red Bull RB7 (Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool)

"It's completely flat through the chase, braking at 120, 130 metres. The car handled the bumps really well. Over the top it was really fast.

"It's the most special thing [I've done]. Doing an official F1 session, free practice last year, is the biggest achievement that I've had. But doing something like this in a car that I grew up watching is more special.

"Pure fun. It was cool."

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