Racing Bull’s Liam Lawson recorded another points finish before the summer break, finishing the F1 Hungarian GP in a solid eighth place.
Lawson was happy with his performance in the Hungarian GP, noting that the feeling inside the car had been ‘good’ in recent weeks and that the pace, especially in the race, was strong.
Given the car’s current pace, Lawson is convinced that a better starting spot would have likely resulted in a better finishing position.
“Yeah, I’m pretty happy with the race.
“The car’s been very good recently, especially in the race.
“Honestly, our long run pace has been very, very good.
“As of right now, we have a decent handle on the tyres, which is very tough, honestly, this year in the race.
“Ultimate pace, I think, had we started a bit higher up, we honestly had the potential to finish higher as well.
“So, I think that’s probably the learning from the weekend.
“But happy with the race.“
One-stop strategy led to success
Starting the Hungarian GP from P9 on the grid, Lawson executed a one-stop strategy that saw him run the medium tyre until lap 40.
A tough strategy choice that went against the Racing Bulls feel inside the car of wanting to try to undercut the cars in front.
Ultimately, the one-stop strategy worked for Lawson, who was encouraged by the strong pace towards the end of the stints.
“We did, yeah. It was tough.
“Just finding a gap as well to box, I think.
“In the car, you feel like you want to just undercut the guys in front of you, but obviously, there’s traffic that you’re going to come out into, and around a small track like this, it’s quite hard.
“So, yeah, I think we did a good job.
“The speed was good, especially towards the end of each stint.
“I think that’s where we were coming on strong.
“So yeah, very happy.”
Finishing ahead of Max Verstappen
Racing Bulls strategic choices saw Lawson gain one position from his P9 starting position to finish the Hungarian GP in P8.
His finishing position meant that Lawson emerged as the highest-placed driver among the Red Bull fielded cars, beating not only his teammate Hadjar, but 4-time Champion Max Verstappen.
Lawson felt that the Racing Bulls’ sister cars struggled more with their tyres, which helped him keep Verstappen behind towards the end. The Dutchman had passed him on the second lap of the Grand Prix.
“A little bit, because, I mean, at the start he was very fast.
“But I also saw the first stint of the race, he was very quick at the start, you know, he got me in the first lap.
“And then I think they struggled more with tyres.
“So, I was kind of hoping it would be the same, so I knew if I kept him there for a few laps, maybe he would start to drop, and I think that’s more or less what happened.”
