Lawson had no confidence to push AlphaTauri in Qatar qualifying

Kiwi Liam Lawson only managed to qualify 18th for the Qatar Grand Prix after struggling with issues that team AlphaTauri were unable to rectify with limited practice time available.

Liam Lawson on Friday in Qatar. (Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool)

“It was tricky, but honestly since we rolled out, I was really struggling with the car,” said Lawson, now in his fifth grand prix for the Red Bull sister team.

“I know everybody was [struggling] with the way the track was. I think we narrowed down the issues we were having in practice but just not enough.”

“We still have some things to look into, because it was really tricky. I felt okay, I was just really struggling to keep the car on track.”

Lawson’s two hot laps were not enough to progress into Q2, with the rookie open about the problems that saw him knocked out in the first session of qualifying.

“I had no confidence at all to really push, to put it on the limit.”

Lawson after qualifying on Friday. (Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool)

The sprint weekend format will challenge the team, who have another chance in the sprint shootout on Saturday, but will be limited in any changes with cars now in parc ferme conditions.

“With the way the format is this weekend, there’s definitely opportunities, but a huge amount of work to do to figure out where the time is.”

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