New Zealander, Liam Lawson, successfully held back the field at the Monaco GP to give his teammate, Isack Hadjar, time to pit without losing position. This move was “a lot more difficult than [he] expected“.
Lawson finished the Monaco GP in P8, the highest he has finished in F1. The 23-year-old went into this weekend “as a team” to have both Racing Bulls finish in the points.
Teamwork makes the dream work
The New Zealander successfully played for the team to keep the rest of the back behind him as Hadjar pitted. With the Monaco GP’s nature, it was “hard to overtake here anyway”. Strategy was the name of the game at Monaco, and Lawson played it well.
When asked if he might see the short end of the stick, Lawson answered, “I mean, there’s always a potential and I think, obviously, when we make a decision like that, our race is limited to basically where I was in P8.” The Racing Bull driver continued, “But honestly, it’s hard to overtake here anyway. For us, on our side, the damage was done in quali yesterday. But for the team, it’s a great result.“
“It’s actually really a lot more difficult than I expected from a concentration point.” Lawson noted about holding back the field, “But, yeah, it’s something that, obviously, from a team side made sense. And it’s not often you have a plan that executes perfectly.”
Improving expectations
The Monaco GP was the first time Lawson finished in the points with Red Bull or Racing Bulls this season. When asked if he feels less pressure, Lawson answered, “I mean, not really, honestly.
“It’s great to score points, but, obviously, I wanted to finish higher. It’s a good step that we made this weekend. But I think we’re always looking for more.”
Even though he wished for a better position personally, Lawson was happy to score points as a team
“Not often you go into a weekend as a team. We’re trying to score both cars in the points and it’s very rare that we’re able to do that. So, to have done that today is pretty cool.”
Looking ahead to Barcelona
Lawson is keeping his eye on the Spanish GP with the new front-wing regulations being implemented in Barcelona. The Racing Bull driver told the media after the Monaco GP, “I mean, obviously, we’re looking for more of the same [result].”
Lawson continued, “And we’ll be pushing for that in Barcelona next week and with the races coming up. I mean, in Barcelona there’s going to be some changes with the regulations. So, for everybody, we’re going to be trying to adapt pretty quickly. But, you know, the target’s the same.”
When asked if the new rules can change things up, Lawson said, “It possibly can. But it depends. We don’t know, obviously, how much teams are doing, what things teams are doing at the moment. So, we’ll try and make our cars as best adapted to it. And for everyone else, it’s a mystery.”