Under-the-radar F1 team's strategy praised after Bahrain GP 'doubts'
Despite initial skepticism over tyre choices during a chaotic afternoon, Liam Lawson credited his pit wall with making all the right calls.
Liam Lawson admitted that he ‘doubted’ his Racing Bulls team when they decided he should start the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia on intermediate tyres.
The Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit experienced lengthy delays in the build-up due to the weather conditions. Once the race got underway, there was a split on the grid between intermediate and slick tyres.
Racing Bulls decided to start Lawson and Arvid Lindblad on intermediate tyres, which ended up being the correct decision, as the New Zealander was fighting with Max Verstappen for third place on the opening lap.
The 24-year-old went on to praise Racing Bulls for deciding to start him on intermediate tyres, a decision that he was not sure of at the start of the race.
After the race, Lawson said, “I didn't expect to be fighting Max into Turn 1 from where we were starting, but yeah, the car hooked up.
“Very, very happy, very proud of the team—all the right decisions today with tyre choices, as much as sometimes I doubted it, to be honest.
“I think we had quite a quick car as well, especially that second stint was very strong for us.”
Heading into the closing stages of the Grands Prix, Lawson was running in ninth place and was able to benefit from further chaos that occurred ahead of him.
Under safety car conditions on Lap 50, George Russell retired from the race, whilst running in third place, which resulted in Lando Norris taking evasive action and running off the track.
The Racing Bulls driver was able to make up two positions due to the incident ahead and was able to hold on to seventh place until the chequered flag.
Lawson explained, “There was a point in the race where I thought, you know, I feel like we've done a lot here all for a P9, and then we obviously got very lucky in the end there.
“To be honest, I kind of wish I'd fought Oscar more because I passed him in Turn 1, and then I didn't really defend too hard into Turn 4.
“I just braked a bit early because I expected them to be a lot quicker, and they didn't really drive away that much, so, yeah. But fairly happy with P5.”
