After his shock demotion to Racing Bulls following two subdued performances in Red Bull’s main team on the opening two rounds of the season, Liam Lawson managed to get his best qualifying result of the season so far at Suzuka for the F1 Japanese GP, with 14th place on the grid – and crucially, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in the second Red Bull.
How the balance “got away” from Lawson throughout qualifying at the F1 Japanese GP
But the New Zealander was still unhappy with his qualifying result, as he admitted the car should have been “well in Q3”, and explained how the wind change compared to Friday practice disrupted the set-up direction on his side of the garage, as he couldn’t “chase enough” balance as the track evolved:
“It’s been a tricky day, I think, especially after [Friday], [when] we had pretty good pace and a pretty good balance,” he said during his print media session after qualifying. “And somewhere along the way, I think with the wind change today, we struggled more.
“Obviously, Isack [Hadjar] found a way to make it work and had a great session. For us, I think it was alright in Q1, and then just through Q2, we got to a point where we couldn’t really chase it enough. And the balance sort of got away from us.
“It’s just a shame, really. I think I felt really good in the car. It’s a shame that for whatever reason, it sort of got away from us at the end of Q2. Because the potential of the car’s been very, very good this weekend, and we should really be well in Q3.”
Qualifying struggles not down to the adaptation process
When asked if the adaptation process to the new car had hampered his potential in qualifying, Lawson explained it was more about general car balance with the evolving track, and revealed he felt even more comfortable in the VCARB-02 than he did on Friday at Suzuka:
“To be honest, comfort-wise, I felt fine,” he said. “I felt really good. Even stronger than [Friday] in terms of, I guess, comfort in the car, obviously. It’s another day in it.
“We just struggled with mainly sector one balance where we had the car. And yeah, I basically just got to a point where it felt like a really good lap. I just couldn’t get much more out of it.
“Honestly, I’ve just tried to work with the team. Obviously, it’s been a big adjustment to come back and basically try and fit back in again. And externally from there, I haven’t really been looking or listening or seeing much.
“It’s been busy enough. So from that side, it’s been pretty smooth. The team’s been very, very supportive.”
Tsunoda “just another car” to contend with
Despite being generally unhappy with the result, Lawson still scored his best qualifying result of the season so far, and ahead of his Red Bull replacement Yuki Tsunoda. When asked if it would be his priority to keep the Japanese driver behind going into the first corner, the New Zealander dismissed it, saying it’s “just another car”, especially with the risk of showers hitting the circuit on Sunday:
“With tomorrow’s weather, it’s going to be an exciting enough race, probably. I’ll just be focused on trying to get a good start and move forward.
“If it’s a wet start, for everybody it’s pretty tough anyway.”
Carlos Sainz’s grid penalty means Lawson will be P13 when the red lights go out on Sunday.
