Day 2 of F1 pre-season testing in Bahrain was anything but smooth sailing for Red Bull’s Liam Lawson.
Lawson faced a mix of rare rain showers and technical issues throughout the day.
Despite the session having several interruptions, he left believing that the team is in a “positive place” ahead of the season opener in Melbourne.
“I am getting more comfortable in the car, it has been a busy day overall.”
Morning session
In the morning session of F1 testing, Lawson’s RB21 suffered from a water pressure issue, causing him to complete only 28 laps as the rain also caused trouble.
He finished the session fifth fastest with a 1:31.233s on the C3 compound tyre.
Despite needing to rack up more track time in the afternoon session, Lawson encountered more delays, completing 91 laps in total for the day.
“As part of testing, we were fighting a few teething gremlins with the car through the day, it’s all about just learning about the new car.”
Afternoon session
Lawson’s second F1 testing outing was compromised by another water issue, the rain. After waiting for dryer track conditions, he returned to the track for some final laps.
“A few of our runs were cut short a little bit and we had to deal with the weather too, which wasn’t great timings for our run plan, as I imagine was the case for most of the pitlane.”
His final stint was cut short as the team made further tweaks to the RB21, but he managed to squeeze in a practice start.
His best time of 1:30.252s placed him seventh on the timesheets, just nine-tenths off Carlos Sainz’s benchmark for Williams.
Lawson spoke about his experience in F1 testing, noting, “All this work is extremely valuable going into Melbourne and we feel in a positive place.
“This is all the most important stuff when it comes to pre-season, this will be the last time I drive the car before Melbourne, to get things right.
“We are going to take from all of it, to put together the best-balanced car for the first race.”
