Shanghai, March 22 Liam Lawson will start the Chinese Grand Prix from last after another disappointing performance in qualifying. The Kiwi has endured a difficult start to his Red Bull career, qualifying 18th in Australia and last for both the Sprint and Grand Prix in Shanghai this weekend.
In the same session, his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen was fifth – 0.720s clear of the New Zealander.
“It’s very, very tough and I can get upset at the traffic issues and the things like that, but it shouldn’t be the difference between me getting through or not. I have a whole lot of things to sort out myself before I can look at getting a little bit of traffic and things like that. It’s just frustrating," Lawson said.
When asked exactly what it is that he needs to get on top of with the RB21, he added, “It’s just time Unfortunately, I don’t really have time but it’s just one of those things. To drive a Formula 1 car, it takes 100% confidence in what you’re doing. It’s not that I don’t feel confident, the window is just so small... and it’s that I need to get a handle on. I don’t know how else to put it really, it’s just not good enough.”
Lawson impressed last year with RB (now Racing Bulls) but has found it tough going following his Red Bull promotion.
In treacherous conditions last weekend in Australia, he struggled to make progress through the order before crashing while remaining on slicks as the rain fell, but there was some positivity in Saturday’s Sprint race, as he climbed steadily to 14th.
Oscar Piastri grabbed his first ever pole at the China GP qualifying with George Russell finishing second by just under one tenth of a second. McLaren teammate Lando Norris will be hoping to keep his winning start to the season as he starts at P3 on Sunday.
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