The Kiwi driver delivered a determined recovery drive through the midfield, capping a productive weekend for Racing Bulls.

Starting 14th on the grid, Lawson quickly made up ground and navigated early chaos, including several non-starters and the race’s only Safety Car, triggered by Lance Stroll’s stranded Aston Martin.

A well-timed pit strategy and a series of overtakes helped Lawson climb into the points, despite briefly being caught out by the Safety Car.

“I’m really happy with our result today,” Lawson said.

“To be honest, we didn’t quite expect it, but our pace was strong towards the end.

“We had a poorly timed Safety Car, and at that moment I thought our race might be over.

“It turned out to be a really enjoyable race and we managed to pull off a few overtakes.

“Bringing it home in P7 feels great. Full credit to the team from a strategy standpoint, we did everything right this weekend and securing two point finishes shows how well the team executed.

“We’ll keep pushing to find a bit more speed for next week and the coming races, and hopefully we can fight even further up the grid.”

Lawson’s teammate, Arvid Lindblad, finished 12th after suffering a mid-race spin.

The pair had an early intra-team battle, with Lindblad proving aggressive in attempting to pass Lawson before both settled into differing strategies.

Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane praised the weekend, highlighting the performance of both drivers despite the challenges, calling Lawson’s drive “one of his best” on the warm-down lap after the race.

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“To come away with a total of eight points from a weekend where we clearly weren’t quick enough is an exceptional result for the team,” Permane said.

“It was a very well executed race. We were unlucky with the Safety Car as we pitted Liam the lap before, but he drove a really great race.

“He was under a lot of pressure at one stage from Hadjar and didn’t put a foot wrong, delivering a solid result.”

Permane added that the team is already looking ahead to the next round in Japan.

“It’s a quick turnaround now, back to Europe for a week before heading out to Japan,” he said.

“It’s a circuit that presents very different configurations and challenges compared to the last two races, and one we’re looking forward to taking on.”

Lawson’s seventh-place finish secured him the highest position among the Red Bull organisation’s two teams, finishing ahead of Isack Hadjar in eighth, with Max Verstappen retiring in the closing laps.

The result, combined with his Sprint points, gave the Kiwi driver a total of eight points from Shanghai, leaving him ninth in the drivers’ championship after two rounds.

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