The Racing Bulls driver will line up 12th for Sunday’s grand prix, recovering strongly from a challenging Sprint in which he finished 14th.

Lawson said the RB01 had been difficult to read throughout practice and Sprint qualifying, but the balance finally moved into a workable zone when it mattered.

“The car has been very sensitive this weekend but it felt in a much better window compared to yesterday, meaning we ended Q1 in a good place,” he said.

“Unfortunately, very small changes make the car feel tricky to drive, so we barely improved in Q2.

“It’s frustrating, but a step up from yesterday given our race pace was very good when the balance was there.

“We’ll come together to make improvements ahead of the race tomorrow.”

Lawson comfortably advanced from Q1 on a fresh set of tyres and looked on course for a ninth Q3 appearance of the season, only to fall just short in the tightly packed second segment.

Teammate Isack Hadjar made the cut and will start a sixth after delivering two clean laps in the final session.

Racing Bulls chief technical officer Tim Goss said the team was encouraged by the pace shown across both qualifying and the Sprint, where Hadjar briefly challenged Carlos Sainz for points before finishing ninth, while Lawson climbed three places to 14th.

“A really good day for VCARB today in Qatar,” Goss said.

He praised Hadjar’s aggression and Lawson’s opening-lap gains in the Sprint, adding that both drivers “progressed through Q1 comfortably” in grand prix qualifying.

He noted that “Q2 was extremely tight, and Liam just missed the cut into Q3,” while Hadjar “ultimately delivered two fantastic laps to qualify an impressive 6th.”

With both cars starting ahead of several key rivals in the constructors’ championship, Goss said the team was “well placed” to convert the improved pace into points on Sunday as they look to hold on to sixth in the standings.

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