The Red Bull driver qualified 20th and last for Saturday’s 19-lap encounter while teammate Max Verstappen will line up second.
Lawson headed to Shanghai off the back of a disappointing weekend in Melbourne at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Things looked on the up in China with a practice time within four-tenths of Verstappen.
There were positive signs following his initial run in Sprint Qualifying too before things began to unravel.
“On my second lap I went off,” Lawson admitted.
“I am disappointed because we started okay and it’s a shame to miss out on SQ2 for a small mistake.
“From a starting point it wasn’t too bad, and we were looking to build in the session from there.”
Inexperience caught him out on his second run as he began the lap with the tyres out of their operating window.
From there, he was unable to recover with the problem compounded as he worked his way around the lap.
“We stayed out to try and cool the tyres on track and to be honest, I really struggled to get the temperatures down to start my second lap,” Lawson admitted.
“We started too hot and through the lap I struggled, it is really frustrating.
“Our pace was there and indicates we should be a lot further up than we are.”
It marked another tough day for the Kiwi, who maintains strong support from Christian Horner who understands his young charger needs time.
“You’ve just got to pick yourself up and focus on the positives,” Horner told Sky Sports when asked about Lawson’s performance in Australia.
“It’s just a very difficult weekend.
“So turn the page, keep your head down, don’t look on social media, and focus on the on the next race.
“We believe that he’s got the ability, he just needs a bit of time.”
The 19-lap Chinese GP Sprint begins at 14:00 AEDT today, ahead of Qualifying for Sunday’s race at 18:00 AEDT.
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