The Racing Bulls driver made a strong start at Spa-Francorchamps, climbing from ninth to sixth amid the opening-lap drama that eliminated George Russell and delayed several others.
Lawson initially ran ahead of teammate Arvid Lindblad and remained inside the points after the early Safety Car period, but soon began slipping backwards as faster cars recovered through the field.
He fell behind Lindblad before being passed by Lando Norris on Lap 10, leaving the New Zealander increasingly vulnerable as the race settled into a rhythm.
Lawson became the first driver inside the top 10 to pit on Lap 16 and rejoined behind Lindblad, with the Racing Bulls pair then fighting hard for position.
The 24-year-old briefly ran through the gravel during their battle into Les Combes but continued, before later finding himself under pressure from both Alpine drivers during the fight for the final points positions.
Franco Colapinto eventually passed Lawson and Pierre Gasly down the Kemmel Straight, leaving Lawson outside the top 10 and unable to recover before the chequered flag.
Take the short survey.
“We were just too slow overall. So it’s frustrating,” Lawson said after the race.
“But honestly after quali yesterday, I knew we weren’t as quick as we needed to be. And then, yeah, good start, but just fighting a losing battle through the race.”
The result marked Lawson’s lowest finish since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix and brought an end to a consistent run that had delivered points at each of the previous five rounds.
View this post on Instagram
Lawson was nevertheless encouraged by Lindblad’s performance, with his teammate demonstrating the potential of the upgraded Racing Bull after being the only driver to receive the complete package in Belgium.
“I mean it’s positive at least, one car is very quick. So hopefully that translates to us next week. But we’ll find out,” Lawson said.
“Obviously it’s a very different track in Budapest, but I’m definitely excited to get out of here and over to there.”
Lindblad converted his strong qualifying performance into ninth place, finishing one position ahead of Colapinto to extend his own points-scoring streak to five races.
The British driver said his growing comfort with the car and increasingly productive relationship with his engineers had contributed to another complete weekend.
“I think every weekend I’m getting more comfortable. More competitive. For sure this has been a complete one,” Lindblad said.
“Every time I’m getting in the car, I’m feeling better. Me and the engineers, we’re getting along really well, understanding each other.
“So I’m really enjoying my time at the moment. The team are doing a really good job to continue to bring performance to the car. And it’s showing on track.”
Lindblad said he had enjoyed his battle with Lawson and Audi driver Gabriel Bortoleto, although the timing of the Virtual Safety Car helped the Brazilian remain ahead on the way to eighth.
“Yeah it was fun. Me and Liam had a good battle. It was pretty fun out there. And then also with Gabby,” Lindblad said.
“We were pushing each other on I think 20-25 laps really flat out. And that’s what racing’s about.
“Obviously it’s a little bit sad to be on the worse side of that because I think on a normal race we would have been ahead of him.
“But at the same time, fair play to Audi and him because they rolled the dice with the VSC and they capitalised on it. So fair play to them today. It worked out.
“But I think regardless of the end result, we’ve done a really good job as a team. Especially on my side of the garage. We’ve been very fast all weekend. So looking forward to Budapest now.”
Lindblad’s two points proved important for Racing Bulls, which moved level with Alpine on 61 points in the battle for fifth in the constructors’ championship.
Discussion about this post