Liam Lawson: I’m still learning

The round in Singapore is only the third in Liam Lawson’s Formula 1 career, but the New Zealand driver reached the final qualifying round ahead of his teammate and is at the same time concerned that he cannot get above 10th position.

Liam Lawson (10th): “It’s of course great that I made it to the last qualifying, but we didn’t fully utilize the car’s potential and we still have to figure that out. It’s a shame that Yuki didn’t succeed, because the AT04 is capable of good speed, and it seemed that his partner felt quite comfortable behind the wheel.

I also did a lap worse than I could because I couldn’t warm up the tires properly and on the last attempt I didn’t feel like the grip on the track had improved. Moreover, in the last sector there were traffic problems, so there were difficulties.

I’m happy that I made it to the third part of qualifying, but potentially we could have moved up to a higher position. However, I am still learning, and the results will grow. Today everything went well, but the most important day is Sunday. I will start from tenth position and the race will last two hours, which is long and therefore will be difficult.

Our job is to try to maximize the car’s potential and manage the race the way we need to.”

Yuki Tsunoda (15th): “I made a mistake and locked the brakes in Turn 14. It’s a shame, my apologies to the team. I am very upset because the car can achieve an excellent pace. We’ll see tomorrow how everything goes, but I’ll do my best to earn points.”

Jodie Egginton, technical director: “It seems that we have been able to take a noticeable step forward on this track. This is a positive moment, and now we have to analyze everything to prepare for the Suzuka stage, because the Japanese circuit is more standard in terms of characteristics.

Speaking of today’s qualifying, we think the car’s speed allowed both drivers to progress to the final session. AT04 did well both in terms of pace and balance, so there was a chance to fight for higher positions.

However, in the second session, Yuki was unable to show time in the first attempt, and in the second session he ended up off the track – a shame, because in the first session he was fast and could have put up a good fight to reach the final.

Liam qualified better and made good progress. His reward was reaching the final, which is nice to see as it was the first time he had driven a Formula 1 car at this circuit.

We showed good pace on Friday during long stretches of laps, and we must take advantage of this tomorrow. We must be prepared to take every opportunity to help Yuki move forward. In general, there are positive aspects, but Sunday is the most important day of the weekend, so we must try to fulfill the tasks that await us.”