Formula 1: Liam Lawson eyes bounce-back after ‘crazy’ start to season

Liam Lawson is excited to get back on the track for this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix after a “crazy couple of weeks”, admitting the season “has been not the most enjoyable”.

The 23-year-old started the Formula One season with Red Bull Racing, but after struggling in Melbourne and Shanghai, Lawson was demoted back to sister team Racing Bulls, swapping places with Yuki Tsunoda before the Japanese Grand Prix.

At Suzuka, Lawson started 13th, but a poorly timed pit strategy came back to bite Racing Bulls, with the Kiwi finishing 17th while teammate Isack Hadjar finished eighth in only his third grand prix.

This weekend will mark Lawson’s 15th grand prix and after a tough start to life as a fulltime Formula One driver, he says the only place he wants to be is inside the car.

“It’s nice to be racing again,” Lawson said. “After some chaotic weeks, to go racing and focus on that is the best thing for me.

“It was nice to be back with the team and we just slid right in. Although the race wasn’t amazing, the weekend went okay, so lots of positives.

“I’m at home as I have ever felt. It has been tough, but being in another race weekend and then going to another one, it speeds up the process of adjusting, so all of that is positive.”

Red Bull senior motorsport adviser Helmut Marko says he wants to see Lawson start scoring points and past success at Sakhir’s Bahrain International Circuit bodes well for the New Zealander.

In his first year of Formula Two in 2021, the Kiwi opened the season with a win in Bahrain’s sprint and third place in the feature. A year later, he added another third place in the sprint race and second in the feature.

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“We’re focussed on trying to improve and me coming in, it’s a good opportunity for me at a track everyone’s tested,” Lawson said. “This weekend will be tough, closer than it’s been, but we’re focused on the job.”

Former Williams team manager Peter Windsor believes it will only be a matter of time before Lawson regains his confidence inside the car.

But speaking to Mike Hosking Breakfast on Newstalk ZB, Windsor said he must start matching his teammate, Hadjar.

“Although Liam can take some satisfaction from outqualifying Yuki [at Suzuka], they are different cars and his only yardstick is Hadjar and he looked better than Liam all weekend,” Windsor said.

“Liam is giving it 100% every weekend, but I would say he’s lost at the moment because his season started badly and now with his rookie alongside him, he’s getting blown away.

“As the season goes on, Liam will go better and we will see more of the old Liam we saw last year, but whether or not that will be enough to beat his teammate is another matter.”

The Bahrain Grand Prix takes place at 3am on Monday (NZ time).