Friday pace “not a true reflection” for Lawson in Bahrain

As track conditions changed between practice sessions in Bahrain, Racing Bulls found itself struggling to adapt, with Liam Lawson reflecting on a “tricky” FP2 where the team faced challenges with car balance and set-up.

It was a rookie-riddled first hour of practice in Sakhir, with six drivers lending their F1 machinery to allow their teams to tick off one of four mandatory rookie practice sessions across the season. 

Sharing the inexperience of the rookies was Liam Lawson who arrived at the Bahrain International Circuit as the only driver not to complete pre-season testing in their current car.

Not thrilling his pit wall when he reported that the balance of his VCARB 02 was “shocking”, Lawson continued lapping the Bahrain International Circuit and eventually moved into the top ten. 

When the #30 made the switch to the soft compound, his fastest lap time was reduced to 1:34.397s which allowed him to cement his place in the top ten, before taking the chequered flag in P8. 

The transition between the sessions and their respective conditions was what caught VCARB off guard, with the team admittedly struggling with balance and car set-up as the temperature dropped for FP2. 

Completing just one timed lap before returning to the pitlane, Lawson briefly positioned himself one second behind the early benchmark, setting his lap on the medium compound.

Ongoing a lengthy reset in the pitlane, Lawson was one of the last drivers to make the switch to Pirelli’s soft compound tyre, finally gracing the track to set a time of 1:31.706s which left him just one-hundredth shy of the top ten.

The Kiwi remained on track, transitioning his soft tyres from a performance-run focus to a long-run focus, and as a result, not improving on the timing sheets.

He finished a “tricky” second practice with the 12th fastest time, 1.2 seconds slower than the benchmark and four-tenths behind Isack Hadjar.

“FP2 was more tricky for us weirdly because of the track conditions in FP1 making it a difficult session,” Lawson said.

“The balance in FP2 went away from us a little bit, but in general I think the car is in a good place, it’s just fine-tuning. 

“Tomorrow we have a session in the day, which isn’t going to help us for Quali, but we’ll be taking what we can from this session ahead of then.

“I made a pretty big mistake in FP2 which dropped me down, so for all of us it’s important to nail the lap, otherwise it’s very costly here. 

“Right now in Formula 1, the difference between a really good lap and a bad lap can completely change your position so it puts pressure on us out on track.”

Reflecting on the opening day at the Bahrain Grand Prix, RB’s Racing Director Alan Permane shared his thoughts on the team’s struggles.

“An interesting day, as Fridays always are here in Bahrain,” Permane said. 

“We’ve got two distinct and different sets of conditions to face in the practice sessions. 

“FP1 is very hot and not representative of what we will face in Qualifying and the race; today we saw track temperatures rise to nearly 50 degrees on track. 

“FP2 is much cooler, making it tricky to set the cars up because the grip is so different between both sessions. 

Permane added: “Tomorrow we will face the same thing with FP3 being hotter and then it being cooler under the lights for Qualifying. 

“We had a very normal day though, we’ve done our homework and we’ve got a decent balance on the cars. 

“Isack was very happy with his car, with Liam still having a little work to do to, but it’s not a true reflection on where he can be. 

“We’re optimistic we can get the maximum out of the cars tomorrow and have them close to each other and well-positioned for the race.”

Free Practice 3 will kick off at 22:30 AEST, followed by Qualifying at 02:00 AEST.

Image: Clive Rose/Getty Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool.

Buy the new issue of Auto Action Premium HERE

Read the new issue of Auto Action Digital HERE

Don’t forget the print edition of Auto Action available via subscription here or you can purchase a copy of the latest issue from one of our outlets here. For more of the latest motorsport news, subscribe to AUTO ACTION magazine.