Lawson thrilled with opening FIA F2 debut

| Photographer Credit: Red Bull Media

Liam Lawson has come away from his debut round in the 2021 FIA Formula 2 Championship sitting second overall on the points table, having stood on twice on the podium.

Lawson won his F2 debut race in Sakhir, Bahrain, ahead of fellow Red Bull Junior Jehan Daruvala. He retired from the second Sprint Race after contact then went on to fight for a third placing in the 32-lap Feature race.

“It was a really good start to the season,” grinned Lawson. “We didn’t maximise, there are definitely points to improve on and learn from this weekend.

“In Race 2 we were on for a podium and we gave away a lot, we lost probably 10-points there so, really that’s quite disappointing,” he acknowledged, referring to being knocked out of Saturday evening’s race.

“The bounce back today was nice, we definitely got lucky with the Safety Car when I was in the box (pits) and made up a few spots,” admitted the Hitech driver.

“It’s a shame that we didn’t quite have the speed, especially on the prime tyre, it got better on the option at the end. It still wasn’t perfect, I didn’t quite have the speed to fight with the leaders, but I was able to sit there and make the most out of it,” he explained after grabbing third right at the end of Sunday’s Feature Race.

“The speed we can find. I just have to maximise the race style of driving I think. Something that I didn’t quite nail this weekend.”

“Qualifying was definitely not the maximum, we had a really weird balance shift from the test to this weekend and didn’t quite keep up with it and so that was a bit of a shame but in the end it actually worked out, starting at the front for the first race.”

“Our starts were good this weekend so that’s definitely a positive to take forward.”

“I think that it was a weekend full of positives, the first weekend is always going to be a bit of a shock, you are always going to learn a lot and I definitely did, so I am excited to take forward this experience into the coming races.”

Before drivers and teams head to Monte Carlo for Round 2 in May, the field will get another chance to improve their machinery during a stop off in Spain for a three-day testing stint.

Related Stories

Join in the conversation!


Comments

Leave a Reply