The Racing Bulls driver, who is coming off an impressive eighth-place finish in Belgium, described the 2025 campaign so far as a “whirlwind” with a rocky start that has since stabilised.

“It’s been busy. It’s been a whirlwind, especially at the start of the year,” Lawson said. “Very unexpected, and what was probably a rocky start has now stabilised and we’re in a better place.

“The speed’s been there most of the year, and it’s nice that we’re finally able to get a couple of good results. As a whole, we need to be doing that more.

“To have two or three of those races over the first half of the season is not enough. Going forward into the second half of the year, we’re trying to replicate this more. Right now, with how close it is, it’s the little things that make a big difference.

He said qualifying is crucial in a tightly packed field, with track position playing a bigger role than outright race pace.

“With how important it is [qualifying] at the moment because everybody’s very close, even on tracks that are maybe easier to overtake, it’s still difficult because you don’t have a three, four, five tenth pace advantage,” Lawson explained.

“You have like a one or two tenth pace advantage, and that’s very hard to overtake. Qualifying is very important, it sets up your weekend. Where our weekends have fallen away, at least on my side, has been normally in an average qualifying.

“Where our weekends have been strong, it’s when we qualify well. That’s the main target: just extracting everything, making sure we have the car in the best place going into qualifying, and then for me getting everything out of it and doing a better job.”

Reflecting on his race in Belgium — which his new team principal Alan Permane called “near perfect” — Lawson was more modest about his performance.

“It’s always tricky in those conditions when it’s changing,” he added. “In the car, it felt like it was still quite wet when everyone was putting on slicks.

“We were actually one of the early cars to do it. If they’d asked me if I thought it was ready, I probably would have said no.”

Despite that, he acknowledged the car’s recent pace and further highlighted how tight the competition is.

“On most tracks we’ve been to, practice has been quite strong and I feel like we’ve started in a good place and not had too much to work on. It’s just very close right now.”

Lawson sits 14th in the drivers’ standings on 16 points after scoring points in three of the last six races.

2025 F1 Hungarian Grand Prix – Schedule, how to watch, TV times & more