Lawson preparing for “big adjustment” in Saudi Arabia

Preparing for the “big adjustment” that is the high-speed challenge of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Liam Lawson says “it’s so hard to predict” how the weekend will play out as the midfield battle heats up in Saudi Arabia.

Declaring the Bahrain Grand Prix “action-packed”, Lawson ended the evening receiving two costly penalties for causing two separate collisions, a pain that came after his late-night Qualifying run just 24 hours earlier also ended in frustration when a DRS issue derailed his final push.

According to Lawson, the two scrappy outings concealed what the VCARB 02 was truly capable of, with the Kiwi finishing in P17, while Isack Hadjar wasn’t much further down the road in P13.

“I mean, naturally, each weekend we spend in the car, we— you know, me personally—I get more comfortable,” Lawson said.

“Obviously, as a team as well, we work out things that suit us best and, yeah, I think Bahrain was actually more competitive for us—we just really didn’t show it.

“So, that’s probably a good feeling coming here, but at the same time, it’s a very different track, completely the opposite really of Bahrain.

“Different surface, completely high-speed, and that’ll be a big adjustment.”

Like the majority of rookies, the Jeddah Corniche Circuit isn’t an uncharted challenge for Lawson.

Racing in Formula 2, the Kiwi finished in second place during the first Sprint in 2021, before going one step higher in 2022 to claim victory around the high-speed 27 corners.

Arriving in Saudi Arabia for this weekend’s running, Lawson’s hopes of scoring his first points, not only with RB but of the entire season, are an elusive prospect made all the more difficult by the tight midfield battle. 

“The midfield is so tight right now that it’s so hard to predict where exactly we sit with everybody else,” Lawson said.

“The difference between a tenth is quite a few positions at the moment so I don’t truly know [where will sit].

“Obviously, we’re optimistic, we’re pushing hard, but it’s really hard to say where we’re going to slot, you know, in with everybody else at the moment.”

Taking the opportunity to compare the VCARB 02 to the competition, the first of three practice sessions will start tonight at 23:30 AEST, followed by FP2 at 03:00 AEST.

Image: Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool.

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