The New Zealander qualified 11th at Spa-Francorchamps after falling only 0.038s short of a place in the final phase of qualifying, ending a run of four consecutive Q3 appearances.
Lawson felt the team had extracted the most from his car by the end of the session but conceded it did not possess enough outright pace to progress further.
“We’ve been a bit slower all weekend. I think we put together the best sort of car that we had. It felt quite good. Just too slow,” Lawson said.
“Obviously tomorrow is going to be a hard race, but I’ll try and do my best.”
Lawson will still gain two positions on the provisional grid due to penalties for Lando Norris and Isack Hadjar, leaving him set to start ninth.
The Racing Bulls driver is aiming to extend his run of points finishes to six consecutive races after emerging as a regular presence inside the top 10 since the Canadian Grand Prix.
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Lawson said he believed another points result remained possible from his improved starting position, although he acknowledged Racing Bulls was unlikely to challenge the leading group on outright pace.
“We’re right on the edge of it at the moment. So I think we can,” he said.
“But to the guys up front, I think we’re a little bit too far away.”
Lawson’s Q2 elimination contrasted with teammate Arvid Lindblad’s strongest qualifying result in Formula 1, with the rookie reaching Q3 for the third consecutive race.
Lindblad qualified eighth and is expected to start seventh once the penalties are applied, placing him two positions ahead of Lawson on the grid.
The British driver has carried Racing Bulls’ full upgrade package throughout the Belgian weekend, while Lawson has continued with only some of the upgrades.
Lindblad said the upgraded car had felt strong from the opening practice session, allowing him to confidently progress through qualifying.
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“Yeah it was a really good session. From FP1 I’ve felt good with the car. It’s been one of the best feelings I’ve had this year. Probably with Barcelona and Canada and Melbourne,” Lindblad said.
“The team have done a really good job to give us a good package and from the beginning of qualifying I felt good. I felt on it. Even to the point where I don’t think we needed to put a second set in Q2 which is quite an achievement for us.”
Lindblad finished Q3 only 0.127s behind Oscar Piastri and believed an even cleaner performance could have placed him ahead of the McLaren driver.
“In the end it’s really good. I think part of me is a little bit gutted because I think if I did a perfect job, I could have maybe just pipped Oscar,” he said.
“But even still I think I was driving really, really well out there. And this is kind of where we’re at the moment.”
Lindblad is seeking his fifth consecutive points finish after helping Racing Bulls establish itself as one of the most consistent teams in the midfield.
The team arrived in Belgium following four consecutive double points finishes, with its improvement beginning after the introduction of a redesigned floor in Canada.
Lindblad said his focus had already shifted towards converting his career-best qualifying performance into another strong result.
“That’s all I’m focused on now. I think Lando’s got some grid penalties, Isack as well. So we should start a little bit further up,” he said.
“We’ll focus on our race and see what we can do. The car’s fast. Team are doing a good job. So it’s just about doing our job well, focusing on the basics, and we should be fine.”
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