Lawson leaves Singapore with “somethings to reflect on”

After a disrupted weekend left Liam Lawson playing catch-up, he gambled on an extended first stint on medium tyres, only to see his hopes of scoring points slip away in Singapore as he reflected on what might have been.

Two crashes across the three limited practice sessions were far from the ideal lead-up to Qualifying for the Racing Bulls driver, with his reduced experience around the tentative Marina Bay Street Circuit leaving him off the mark ahead of the main event.

Inheriting two grid positions due to Williams’ double disqualification from Qualifying meant Lawson was treated to a 12th place start for the Singapore Grand Prix, with Alex Albon starting from the pitlane and Carlos Sainz lining up from the very back of the grid. 

Now with Nico Hulkenberg as the driver ahead, the Kiwi followed the glowing Sauber to the first corner as the lights went out, coming under threat from the Red Bull driver behind, however, holding his own through the opening sequence of corners. 

With Yuki Tsunoda unable to make the Kiwi blink, Lawson remained within DRS range of the driver ahead for the opening ten laps, before switching into tyre preservation mode after Racing Bulls elected to extend the #30’s medium tyre stint, based on the hopes of a lucky Safety Car playing into their hands. 

As his rivals pitted, Lawson gradually made his way into the top ten, and was running in P8 when the previously-disqualified Williams of Sainz found its way into the Kiwi’s mirrors.

Both running on 40-lap-old medium compound tyres, Sainz worked to reduce the margin from 7.5 seconds to just six-tenths when Lawson finally opted to pit ten laps later, however, it was the RB pit wall’s decision to call their driver in on Lap 49 that cost him a shot at a points finish.

The team performed a smooth tyre change for the Kiwi, with Lawson relinquishing his overworked yellow-marked tyres for the quicker soft compound tyre before he rejoined the race in P19, behind a long train of back markers.

Three laps later, Sainz made the call to pit, with perfect timing allowing the Williams driver to rejoin the race in P15, clear from the likes of Albon, Pierre Gasly, and Esteban Ocon, while Lawson was yet to battle his way through that pack.

With a significant tyre advantage under his belt, Sainz made light work of his midfield competition, passing three cars in three laps before approaching the border of the top ten.

Sitting in eleventh, even Yuki Tsunoda’s larger interval to the Spaniard didn’t stand a chance in aiding his rumoured future replacement, Isack Hadjar’s mission to hold onto the final points scoring position, with Sainz disposing of Tsunoda on Lap 58, before picking off Hadjar on Lap 60.

“I mean, we just went very, very long,” Lawson said.

“Stayed out most of the race on that set of mediums… honestly, I don’t really know.

“I need to have a look at what happened because Carlos [Sainz] was behind me, and then he ended up finishing tenth, so I have no idea what happened in that lap.

“But, yeah, for me, I came out behind the train, and he came out in front of the train, so I need to have a look why.

“But, yeah, it’s frustrating, for me, obviously, the damage was mostly done yesterday from me.

“So, yeah, something to reflect on, for sure, going forward.”

Lawson only managed to climb his way back up to P15 as the chequered flag waved, with his significant tyre advantage posing no help against the unmoving back markers in Singapore, even with the Kiwi having the confidence in the pace of his VCARB 02.

“I think we could have [scored points], but I think we struggled a lot towards the end of that stint anyway — definitely more than Carlos behind,” the #30 said.

“He was able to actually keep quite a strong pace towards the end.

“He caught up to me, so, yeah, I don’t know.

“Pace was decent, but not quite good enough.

“But I think it was good enough for points, had we started higher.” 

The next two rounds take place at two circuits where Lawson made headlines in 2024, with the United States Grand Prix previously seeing the Kiwi take the fight to an unimpressed Fernando Alonso, while the Mexico City Grand Prix was the destination where Lawson and Sergio Perez’s duel for the highly coveted Red Bull seat alongside Max Verstappen reached its peak.

This year, however, Lawson will hope to make headlines for more positive reasons, as a return to the points-scoring positions weighs heavily on the 23-year-old’s wish list. 

The fourth Sprint Weekend of the season, the United States Grand Prix, will take place in two weeks’ time, with the event running from October 17-19 (The early hours of October 18-20 for Australian viewers).

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

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