Liam Lawson has admitted he was “lucky” to avoid being taken out on the first lap of the Austrian Grand Prix, before going on to secure his best result in Formula 1.
The Kiwi drove confidently and assuredly all weekend to finish in a season-best sixth place, having started in the same position.
It was the first time this year that Lawson had outperformed team-mate Isack Hadjar, and in doing so, helped the Faenza-based squad secure all-important points in its midfield battle.
However, Lawson’s race was nearly over as quickly as it had begun when carnage ensued on the opening lap.
Having lost sixth place to Max Verstappen off the line, Lawson tucked in behind his former Red Bull team-mate going up the hill towards Turn 3.
But Andrea Kimi Antonelli, coming from a long way back, made an ambitious launch up the inside of Lawson and Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto.
The outcome saw the Mercedes lock up, and, unable to slow sufficiently, speared into Verstappen, taking himself and the Dutchman out of the race.
Miraculously, both Bortoleto and Lawson managed to avoid serious contact with Antonelli, and both continued on their way to respective top 10 finishes.
After the race, Lawson revealed that he had seen replays of the incident and concluded he was fortunate not to be collected in it.
“I’ve seen it now, and obviously [Antonelli] was trying to avoid [me] as we were slowing down,” he said.
“Lap 1, in a hairpin like that, everyone backs up a lot and I know, obviously, it wasn’t on purpose, so we were very lucky to survive.
“I mean, I thought I got hit, to be honest. I thought we were probably going to have damage, and the car was fine. So, yeah, got lucky.”
Austria result ‘amazing’ after ‘incredibly tough year’
Lawson reflected on the result, coming amid a difficult opening half to his season. After being swapped by Red Bull back to Racing Bulls after a poor first two races, Lawson has found it hard to keep up with Hadjar, who has significantly impressed with his performances in the VCARB 02.
But the 23-year-old conveyed his relief that he was once again able to show his worth, but was clear of the need to be consistent going forward.
“It’s been an incredibly tough year, a very tough year with a lot of potential,” he said. “I came into F1 and even last year, had a few races, and most of them converted very well.
“Sometimes you can have all the confidence and speed in the world, and they don’t [convert], and it’s felt like that this year.
“To finally have a result is amazing, but we need to obviously keep doing this as well.
“The last couple of weekends, I think Canada, we had really good speed in practice. Barcelona, had good speed in practice, Monaco as well, and the result didn’t convert.
“We’ve been pushing a lot with the car, and especially with our side of the garage. They’ve been doing a lot of work to make me comfortable, and we made some changes this weekend, and they’ve worked really, really well.
“We need to, obviously, keep pushing, but it’s sometimes like that in Formula 1. Sometimes the speed and everything can be there, but there are a lot of variables in this sport, and they’ve worked for us this weekend.”
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