Formula 1 once again showed how small details can change a team’s performance, and Liam Lawson felt this at the Belgian GP. Without Racing Bulls’ new aerodynamic update, the New Zealander acknowledged that he got the most out of the car but could not keep up with the progress made by teammate Arvid Lindblad.
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While Lindblad used the new package and comfortably advanced to Q3, Lawson was eliminated in Q2 during the qualifying session at Spa-Francorchamps. The driver, who will start ninth after penalties applied to other competitors, stated that the performance difference was evident throughout the weekend.
The Racing Bulls update, with a new air intake, was installed only on Lindblad’s car at this stage. The choice came after an internal dispute between the two drivers, with the Briton getting the component for having achieved a better qualifying position at the British GP.
Even without the new package, Lawson assessed that he managed to extract the best from the available equipment: “Honestly, we weren’t fast enough throughout the weekend. I think we set up a pretty good car for what we had. I was very happy with the balance, but that just shows the situation,” he said.
The New Zealander also considered the possibility of having used a slipstream during qualifying but thought the gain probably wouldn’t have been enough to change his result: “Maybe a little, but to be honest, even if we had reached Q3, it would have been for P10,” he added.
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Despite the frustration of not having the update, the driver highlighted that the team found an important advance with the new package used by Lindblad. Lawson admitted that the effect of the component ended up being greater than expected during the Spa stage.
“We are slow throughout the weekend, so it was probably what we expected, a little. If it is stronger than we imagined, I am not sure, but it definitely cost us a lot. In qualifying, we put together the best car we had, but they seem to have found a big step with the package they have,” he added.
With the update scheduled for the Hungarian GP, Lawson hopes to have a more competitive setup in the next stage and reduce the gap shown at Spa-Francorchamps. Meanwhile, Lindblad will start seventh, a result that highlighted the impact of the new component on Racing Bulls’ performance.
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