Red Bull curse continues for Liam Lawson in Chinese GP qualifying: “I need time, but I don’t have it”. Liam Lawson set the twentieth-fastest time in Chinese qualifying.

Once again, the latest addition to Red Bull will start from the back: Liam Lawson set the twentieth-fastest time in Chinese qualifying and analyzed the issues of a car that requires a learning period which, unfortunately, he doesn’t have.

It was yet another tough qualifying session for the New Zealander, promoted from Racing Bulls to the Red Bull main team after Sergio Perez’s departure. Eliminated in Q1 in Shanghai as well, Liam Lawson will start from the twentieth grid slot in Sunday’s Grand Prix.

At the end of a disappointing qualifying session, the 2002-born driver pointed out the session’s critical aspects: “It’s just really tough,” he told the journalists present.

Red Bull continues to prove a complex car to understand, one that doesn’t allow much room for interpretation. “The operating window is very narrow, but this isn’t meant as an excuse,” the Red Bull driver continued. “The session was quite messy, maybe without all that traffic it would have gone better, but that wasn’t the case. I should have been faster on the first attempt, I just need to fix this issue.”

Red Bull, Lawson Admits: “Time Is Needed, but I Don’t Have It”

In a Red Bull that only Max Verstappen seems able to master, everyone else, from Sergio Perez to Liam Lawson, struggles and delivers mediocre performances. “What’s needed to fix all this? I think it’s just a matter of time, but unfortunately, I don’t have much time,” admitted the downcast New Zealander, while Helmut Marko’s sharp eyes scrutinize the young driver’s work, so far unsatisfactory.

The new RB21, like its recent predecessors, is a difficult car to understand, and driving it alongside Max Verstappen, the only one who seems to grasp it, increasingly feels like a curse. “Driving an F1 car requires 100% confidence in the car. It’s not that I don’t trust the car, but the operating window is simply too small,” Liam Lawson explained.

The race plan is clear: “We’ll try to gain positions, we’ll aim to learn from the Sprint Race, maybe manage graining better, and… I’ll try to do a better job.”