While Liam Lawson may be disappointed with his qualifying result ahead of the Mexico City F1 Grand Prix, spoiled by his Visa Cash App RB Formula One teammate Yuki Tsunoda, the overall results bode well for his future.
Controversial driver, Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Perez and No 2 to Max Verstappen, didn’t make it into Q2 and will start from grid 18 at his home Grand Prix. Meanwhile, Verstappen starts on the front row, again showing he needs a quality wingman (and not Perez) for 2025. Tsunoda crashed with 10 seconds remaining in Q2 which in turn hindered Lawson’s attempt at getting into Q3. Lawson will start 12th while Tsunoda starts from 11th.
This has allowed their nearest rivals in the constructors’ championship, HAAS F1, to get both their drivers further up the grid with Kevin Magnussen starting seventh and Nico Hulkenburg tenth.
Why is this a near-perfect result? Lawson didn’t do anything wrong and was on a hot lap that potentially would have got him into the Q3 top tenth fastest drivers. Perez keeps displaying more reasons why he should not continue with Oracle Red Bull Racing and Tsunoda mucked up big time.
“It’s a shame, the Team has given both of us a very good car this weekend that was capable of Q3, but it’s one of those things and being out at the back, it’s the risk we run,” said Lawson. “We had a really good first sector that was improving; if we had finished the lap we were on, we would have made it.
“We’ll have to find a way to get some clean air. It’ll be tough, but if we have the speed on the straight, we should be able to overtake. Our race pace looks quite good, so I’m confident we can move forward and that we’re in a good place to fight for points tomorrow.”
Lawson just needs to keep everything consistent. If he can repeat his result from Austin last weekend – finishing in the points and beating his teammate, then that all helps with building the future and securing his seat in F1. The race is timed to go at 9am Monday 28 October 2024 NZ time.
Comments