“It’s just really tough,” Lawson told Formula One’s official broadcaster. “The window is really small, that’s known. But it’s not an excuse, I’ve got to get a handle on it.
“It was a messy session, had we not have dealt with traffic, it might have been ok. But it’s still not good enough. We should be fast enough on our first lap. I’ve got to get on top of it.
“It’s just time, unfortunately, I don’t really have time. To drive a Formula One car takes 100 percent confidence in what you’re doing. It’s not that I don’t have confidence, but the window is just so small that I seem to miss it.
“I don’t know how else to put it. It’s just not good enough.”
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took pole position for the first time in his career, and celebrated by setting a new track record at the Shanghai International Circuit, crossing the line in 1m 30.703s, beating the previous record of 1m 30.849s, set by Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton on Friday night in sprint qualifying.
Mercedes’ George Russell will start second after posting a best time 0.082s back from Piastri, while McLaren teammate Lando Norris is third. Lawson’s Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen is third, and was 1.357s quicker than the Kiwi.
Not helping Lawson’s cause is the fact that both Racing Bulls drivers - Red Bull’s junior team - reached the top 10, with Isack Hadjar to start seventh, and Yuki Tsunoda, who the Kiwi beat to the second seat last year, qualifying in ninth.
If there’s any consolation for Lawson, he faced a similar situation in last year’s US Grand Prix at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas. On that occasion, he started 19th thanks to a grid penalty in his Formula One return, but drove a near flawless race to take ninth in the Grand Prix.
The circumstances in China, though, are much different, given Lawson’s Red Bull car is expected to be at the front of the grid, not the back.
Saturday’s qualifying performance came after Lawson performed admirably in the sprint, even from the back of the grid. Needing both time on track and behind the wheel of Red Bull’s RB21, Lawson was afforded both in the first race of the weekend, as vital preparation for Sunday’s 56-lap Grand Prix.
In his first competitive outing at Shanghai, Lawson gained five positions on track after starting 19th, a feat only matched by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.
Lawson’s performance should be expected, given he’s in a superior car. However, when considering the difficulty the 23-year-old has shown in adapting to his new team, and the nature of sprint weekends reducing practice time, the sprint race was an overwhelming success for the Kiwi before the Grand Prix.
Given the sprint race saw all but one driver go from start to finish on one set of tyres, the experience gained by Lawson will be more important than any points he might have gained from finishing in the top eight.
Lewis Hamilton led from start to finish to take his maiden victory after moving from Mercedes to Ferrari in the off-season, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took second after a late overtake on world champion Max Verstappen, who finished third.
Piastri’s McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who won the season opening race in Melbourne last weekend, could only manage eighth place, after qualifying in sixth.
After also qualifying in 20th place on Friday, Lawson was given a slight boost when Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg was relegated to start from pit lane, after changing his suspension set-up.
And after getting through the challenging opening corner, the longest on the Formula One calendar, Lawson slowly but surely got to work in learning the circuit in race conditions.
On lap four, Lawson closed in on Alpine’s Jack Doohan, and showed incredible confidence to brake late into the hairpin at turn 14, and successfully overtake the Australian.
However, Lawson did make contact with Doohan in doing so, and was investigated for the pass, to which the stewards found no further action was warranted.
The turn 14 hairpin proved to be Lawson’s ally three laps later, where he pulled off an identical maneuver on Haas’ Esteban Ocon to move into 17th.
On lap 10, Lawson overtook the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto at turn one, taking the outside line and holding his composure to keep his position as the corner moved from the long right hander into an immediate left.
In a battle with Red Bull stablemate Isack Hadjar, Williams’ Carlos Sainz suffered damage - again at turn 14 - and was forced to pit, but not before he too lost a position to Lawson.
And after one final overtake on Haas’ Ollie Bearman on the closing laps, Lawson ultimately ran out of time to move up the grid even further, as he closed in on Hadjar’s Racing Bulls car.
Chinese Grand Prix starting grid
1. Oscar Piastri - McLaren
2. George Russell - Mercedes
3. Lando Norris - McLaren
4. Max Verstappen - Red Bull
5. Lewis Hamilton - Ferrari
6. Charles Leclerc - Ferrari
7. Isack Hadjar - Racing Bulls
8. Kimi Antonelli - Mercedes
9. Yuki Tsunoda - Racing Bulls
10. Alex Albon - Williams
11. Esteban Ocon - Haas
12. Nico Hulkenberg - Sauber
13. Fernando Alonso - Aston Martin
14. Lance Stroll - Aston Martin
15. Carlos Sainz - Williams
16. Pierre Gasly - Alpine
17. Ollie Bearman - Haas
18. Jack Doohan - Alpine
19. Gabriel Bortoleto - Sauber
20. Liam Lawson - Red Bull
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016, and previously worked for both Newshub and 1News.
