Lawson “undoubtedly pushing me” like Tsunoda used to

Isack Hadjar says his Racing Bulls Formulation 1 team-mate Liam Lawson has had a easy adaptation again to the Faenza-based squad following his Pink Bull demotion – which the New Zealander agrees on.

Lawson outqualified Hadjar for the primary time eventually weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, outpacing the rookie by 0.010s in Q1 and 0.227s in Q2.

He ultimately completed the race eleventh on the highway, simply 1.4s away from Hadjar, although a 10-second penalty for overtaking Jack Doohan off the monitor at Flip 2 dropped him behind Fernando Alonso within the remaining classification.

“This weekend he was actually, actually quick,” Hadjar mentioned of Lawson. “In qualifying, he made the a lot of the automotive. He’s undoubtedly getting stronger now, undoubtedly pushing me identical to Yuki [Tsunoda, his previous team-mate] was pushing me as properly.”

Lawson was on the identical technique as most drivers – a primary stint on medium tyres, then one other on hards – however didn’t discover it profitable. The 23-year-old was twelfth early on, then overtook Alonso; following his pitstop he handed Gabriel Bortoleto, Doohan – controversially – Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll, however nonetheless completed the race in an analogous place to lap 1, proper behind Hadjar.

“Sadly, my [strategy] didn’t work right now, we spent the race overtaking vehicles,” Lawson lamented.

“The top of our race was completely flat out, making an attempt to make a 10-second hole to Fernando, nevertheless it wasn’t for the factors anyway. It’s a disgrace we simply ended up on the improper finish of it right now.”

Nonetheless, after struggling a lot over his solely two grands prix at Pink Bull, Lawson corroborated Hadjar’s evaluation that he was now on top of things at Racing Bulls.

“I feel that is the quickest we’ve been, however simply sadly not sufficient,” he mentioned, earlier than being requested if he was now absolutely dialled in: “I feel so. Clearly we didn’t fairly have the velocity of the highest groups yesterday, so we’ll try to work on bettering this for Miami.”

In the meantime, Hadjar hailed a “excellent” race from himself, having secured tenth with the alternate onerous/medium technique. Nonetheless, he was left annoyed by spending the final 10 laps of the race caught behind Carlos Sainz and Alexander Albon regardless of his brisker, softer rubber.

“It was an ideal race, and to get just one level is a bit… harsh,” the 20-year-old mentioned. “After I knew the 2 Williams had been forward of me after the pitstop, I knew I used to be… cooked.”

As for the best way he bounced again after crashing out of the Australia season-opener earlier than it even began, Hadjar defined: “It’s the love for racing. I simply adore it a lot, simply dedicated to it. That’s why a tricky hit like Melbourne is just not sufficient to convey me down, as a result of I like driving and giving my greatest.”

Extra reporting by Filip Cleeren and Mark Mann-Bryans

Images from Saudi Arabian GP – Race