Red Bull driver Liam Lawson is slated to kick off from P20 at the forthcoming Chinese GP Sprint, following a challenging qualifying session in Shanghai. Lawson attributed his less than ideal starting position to tyres that were “too hot” during his final flying lap in SQ1. This condition thwarted his attempts to boost his initial time, landing him last on the grid.
Lawson’s Red Bull teammate, Max Verstappen, a four-time World Champion, is expected to start from the front row in the Saturday Sprint. Meanwhile, Lawson, undertaking his inaugural race at the Shanghai International Circuit, will take his position at the tail of the grid. Despite setting a time that initially saw him through to SQ2, Lawson found himself outperformed by his rivals who managed to improve their times in their second run, leveraging the medium tyres mandated for the session.
Taking to the team radio post his exit, a remorseful Lawson conveyed to race engineer Richard Wood, “Mate, I’m really sorry but I just I honestly could not get the tyres down.” This was an admission that his tyre temperatures failed to decrease during his ‘cool’ lap, leading him to embark on his ‘push’ lap with excessively warm tyres.
The Red Bull driver’s troubles were compounded when he ran too deep at Turns 9 and 10, grazing the gravel and thereby ending his stint in the session. Reflecting on the unfortunate turn of events, Lawson stated, “So, it’s obviously a shame. I think, from a starting point, it wasn’t too bad, the first lap was alright, and then we were just looking to build on there, but we stayed out to try and cool the tyres on track.”
Lawson conceded to struggling with lowering the tyre temperatures at the start of the second lap, stating, “we started too hot and then through the lap, I just struggled. It’s frustrating.” He expressed his disappointment at the frustrating circumstances that led to his early exit despite a decent start in the qualifiers. “Our pace should be a lot further up than where we are,” he added, pointing to the potential of the team.
Despite the setback, Lawson remains optimistic about the upcoming sprint race where he hopes to learn and improve. He is also looking forward to another shot at qualifying post the Sprint, with the Chinese Grand Prix qualifying slated for Saturday afternoon in Shanghai. The young driver aspires to deliver a much-improved performance in the qualifiers, aiming for a better positioning on the grid.