Early qualifying exit

Liam Lawson: “… and it’s down to my stupidity”

Liam Lawson

(Bild: AP/Associated Press / Heath McKinley)

Liam Lawson explained his early exit in Q1 during qualifying in Melbourne. "I think it's just down to the difficult track, the lack of driving ability and then my stupidity," said the New Zealander, who is occupying the second Red Bull cockpit this season alongside Max Verstappen.

Lawson did not make any mistakes in the first qualifying segment and will start the first race of the season from 18th on the grid. "I think missing out on P3 this morning was really costly for us. We didn't really prepare well for qualifying. And I don't think it's down to the car. It's not that this car is much more difficult to drive and that's why I made mistakes. I think it's simply down to the difficult track, the lack of driving skills and then my stupidity," he told "GPblog", explaining his early qualifying exit.

The weather forecast in Australia does not promise anything good for Sunday, but could shake up the places in the race. "I would like to have rain. I think it will be difficult to overtake. If it's dry where we start, it will be quite difficult. So rain would be nice," said Lawson.

RB team boss Christian Horner

(Bild: AP/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

"Not representative"
Team boss Christian Horner was more positive about the performance of his new protégé. "He's the only driver on the grid who's never driven here before, so it was a lot to ask of him in Q3," continued the Briton. "His first run was okay, but unfortunately mistakes in the second and third runs meant he couldn't compete today. But that's not representative of what he's capable of."

"His first run was pretty good considering how few kilometers he drove, but then unfortunately he got stuck in the second run and made a mistake in the third run. You can't judge him on today's performance, but hopefully he can put in a decent run tomorrow," said Horner.

It remains to be seen what Lawson can achieve in the race...