Ahead of Qualifying for the Mexican GP, the RB looked like a strong contender for a Q3 appearance, having finished all practice sessions inside the Top 10. Yuki Tsunoda showed particularly good form, finishing FP1 and FP2 in P3, thus providing teammate Liam Lawson, who made his F1 comeback during last weekend’s US GP, with a vital reference point.
“He’s been perfect, honestly. It’s good to have a fast teammate and be able to use his data. And that’s what we’ve been doing all weekend, honestly.
“So yeah, it’s been useful. I think obviously having extra time this weekend has helped for sure. So yeah, it’s just a shame we didn’t get to finish the lap.”
It all looked good until, on the second run in Q2, the session came to a halt when Yuki Tsunoda lost control of his VCARB and crashed into the barriers at Turn 12. The session was red-flagged and not restarted, leaving several cars, with Lawson among them. unable to improve their times.
“Yeah, it’s a shame obviously. I think we had a fast car all weekend.
“Obviously, Yuki’s been extremely strong in practice. We’ve been building up and I think we were right there in quali. And it’s a shame, honestly.
“I think the team’s worked extremely hard and given us a really fast car this weekend. So, I think they deserve to have two cars, if not one, in Q3.”
Lawson was on a fast run and already improving his own time, which he feels would have been sufficient to make it into Q3, knocking out Pierre Gasly in the process.
“Yeah, I was considerably up. So honestly, even just with a normal sector 2 and 3, it should have been enough. But yeah, that’s how it is sometimes.”
Following Tsunoda’s crash, the session was stopped with only 10 seconds left and was thus not resumed the clock; Lawson, who was running behind his teammate, could not finish the lap after a strong build-up throughout the session.
“Yeah, unfortunately that’s the risk sometimes when you run as well towards the back.
“And if there is a red flag, that’s what happens. We did all the right things. We built up and by quali we were honestly on the limit.
So yeah, I feel confident we would have been able to go through.”
Lawson will start the race from P12 behind teammate Tsunoda in P11, a disappointing result after the team had worked hard for a better result.
“It would have worked better if we got through to Q3. Honestly, I feel for them because it worked really hard. This is a weekend where you don’t often have two cars that are very quick and capable of Q3.
“Haas have now completely capitalised on that and put both their cars in Q3. Because of what’s happened, we’re now both out.”
The fact that Haas, VCARB’s closest competitor in the Constructors’ Championship, with only 2 points separating the teams, managed to qualify for Q3 means that VCARB will be looking to catch the Haas duo during the race.
“Yeah, a lot to talk about. We’re close to the points, obviously we’ll see where they qualify. But we’re close to the points, and the long run looks good, so hopefully, we can move forward.”
VCARB also brought a floor update which was mounted on Tsunoda’s car while Lawson drove the previous version from Austin.
“No, just on Yuki’s car this weekend. Basically, I have the car I drove last week, and Yuki’s got the upgrades […].”
With Lawson only heading into his second weekend after the return, it seems wise to opt for stability instead of adapting to a new package.
“Maybe, but you always want the faster car as well.
“But I understand at this time the reasons behind it. Honestly, regardless of the floor, both cars were quick enough for Q3. At least on our side of the garage I felt like we could have gone through.”
Lawson may head into today’s race without the upgrades which could be proof to be a disadvantage, but the 22-year-old is set on scoring points this weekend.
“Potentially, yes, but at the same time, I’m working towards trying to score points regardless of whether I have an upgrade or I don’t have an upgrade. I think the car’s in a good window.
“We know that from Austin, it was very fast. I’m happy with where things are at.”
