AlphaTauri stand-in Liam Lawson scored his first Formula 1 points at the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday and, in only his third race, also chalked up the team’s highest finish of the season.
Despite that, the 21-year-old New Zealander managed to find fault in his weekend – his race starts.
“I need to sort these starts because its two weekends in a row now that I’ve lost two spots off the line and it’s just making our life more difficult,” Lawson told Sky Sports television.
“Honestly, it’s two slots and around here you can’t overtake,” added the youngster, who started 10th and one spot ahead of Red Bull’s double F1 World Champion and Championship leader Max Verstappen.
“We did the hard work yesterday and put ourselves in Q3 (the final phase of qualifying) and to lose those spots off the line is a bit tricky,” he maintained.
The Kiwi’s steady progression, after being given his break when Australian Daniel Ricciardo broke his hand, has made a big impression already.
Thirteenth in the Dutch Grand Prix, he was 11th at the Italian race at Monza and moved up another two places to ninth in Singapore, with his parents on hand to savour the occasion.
The two points made him the 350th driver to score in a Formula 1 World Championship event since the first in 1950.
Japanese teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who retired on the first lap, has scored only three points from 14 races after being unable to start in Italy.
Lawson doing his best to show the team he’s got what it takes
AlphaTauri have yet to confirm their drivers for 2024 and Lawson could team up with Ricciardo or Tsunoda at the Red Bull-owned team if he gets the nod.
“I’ve been beating the drum since before driving in F1 trying to get this shot and now I have this opportunity I’m just trying to maximise it,” said Lawson, who has the seat until Ricciardo recovers.
He is likely to be still in the car for Japan next weekend but beyond that remains uncertain.
“I have this very short window and I basically want to get to the end of it and look back and know that I’ve done everything I could,” he said.
“It’s tricky to get a full time seat in this sport but rather than looking at all those external things for me its just focusing on every session, trying to maximise each time I’m in the car and show what I can,” Lawson revealed.
In AlphaTauri’s race report, the driver admitted it was a tough demanding race, wishing he had more time to prepare for it, he said: “I would’ve liked a few more Grands Prix to prepare for this one
“But obviously, when you get the opportunity, you have to take it with both hands. Honestly, that’s what I’m trying to do, and today was fantastic.
“I’m happy with the race, and I definitely gave it everything because I think we maximised the car’s performance. It’s hard when you’re struggling for pace, trying to maximise your tools and get everything out of it, so the race was physically demanding.
“At the end of the day, I’m really happy to have scored two points,” Lawson concluded. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, Additional reporting by GrandPrix247)