Fine margins cost Lawson in frustrating Sprint Qualifying

Liam Lawson was left ruing “just small margins” after falling an agonising 0.041s short of SQ3, with the Kiwi forced into a frustrating P11 start for this evening’s Sprint at the Belgium Grand Prix.

Lawson’s Sprint Qualifying campaign got off to a tense start as he narrowly avoided a collision with Nico Hülkenberg in the pitlane, slamming on the brakes when the Sauber was released into his path. 

The moment drew the attention of the stewards but was ultimately dismissed without penalty.

Putting the marginal moment behind him, Lawson put his foot to the floor on the mandatory medium compound tyre, tracking as the 12th fastest driver after all initial attempts were locked in.

Not satisfied with his first effort, Racing Bulls prepared its rookie lineup to launch for one final dash, benefiting from their competitors’ late missteps as the #30 struggled to improve on the timesheets.

Tucking safely into P12, Lawson advanced through to the second stage.

“Like every other weekend, it’s just extracting every little bit out of the car,” the RB driver said.

“Wind changes make quite a big difference, as it did a couple of weeks ago in Silverstone, it’s just sensitive stuff.

“So yeah, trying to maximise, obviously, for us as well as drivers, trying to put everything together and normally when you do that, it’s enough to go through.”

In SQ2, Lawson waited until the dying minutes to post a time — a bold one-shot effort that briefly put him inside the top five, however, his rivals soon got the better of his time of 1:42.169s, forcing Lawson back down the order into a frustrating P11.

The Kiwi missed out by just 0.041s to championship leader Oscar Piastri, eliminated as the chequered flag flew and left to watch from the garage while his teammate pressed on.

“Yeah, a little bit frustrated,” Lawson said.

“It’s just small margins, which is crazy around here because it’s such a long lap, so yeah.

“The car’s been fast, was on a lap that was probably plenty good enough, but I had a small issue in the last chicane, and it’s just tiny things that make a difference, so it’s knocked us out.”

The Kiwi will share Row 6 with his former teammate Yuki Tsunoda when it comes time to launch into Le Source, with the likes of Gabriel Bortoleto and his teammate the first targets on his radar as he looks to claw his way into a top-eight points-scoring position.

“I mean, I’ll try [to fight my way into the points], for sure,” Lawson said.

“Depends on our race pace, obviously, but, obviously, we’ll take the learnings from today and try and fix it for Quali tomorrow as well.”

Lights out for the third Sprint race of the season will take place at 20:00 AEST tonight, with the weather for the 15-lap dash still an exciting unknown.

Image: Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool.

Read the new issue of Auto Action Digital HERE

Buy the new issue of Auto Action Premium HERE

Don’t forget the print edition of Auto Action available via subscription here or you can purchase a copy of the latest issue from one of our outlets here.