‘Someone didn’t follow the plan’ - Liam Lawson felt ‘lost’ in Monza qualifying

Liam Lawson has conceded to feeling "lost" during his second Red Bull qualifying session this term. 

The Racing Bulls driver is once again standing in for the injured Isack Hadjar at Red Bull, but entered the session knowing that he would start towards the back of the grid with an engine penalty.

Although accepting that he would play a supporting role to team-mate Max Verstappen throughout the three-phase session, Lawson was left frustrated by how things panned out as he dropped out in Q2. 

Asked if his comments on team radio were heat-of-the-moment complaints, the New Zealander said: "For sure.

"I mean, we just had a plan, and someone didn't really follow it exactly. So, I just felt at times I didn't really know what I was doing.

"But obviously, for us this weekend, quali wasn't really important because we're at the back for the race, so we can just focus on racing now."

Lawson would not be drawn on who he was referring to in his comments. 

His Q2 efforts weren't helped by Red Bull's run plan, as he was left to begin his crucial final effort just as the rest of the field were filing out of the pits to begin their warm-up laps. 

This meant he came up on traffic into the first chicane, with Oscar Piastri proving a particular nuisance on the apex of Turn 1 - an incident that saw the McLaren driver take a three-place grid drop. 

He added: "I just spent the whole quali in clean air until that last lap. It was the first time I was set behind a car, and the tyres were super hot. It just wasn't an ideal situation. 

"So trying to do it for the first time was not ideal, but I think, obviously, having Oscar in Turn 1 probably hurt more than anything."