Lawson: I have a lot to learn from Fernando Alonso

Liam Lawson admitted he expected a stronger response from Fernando Alonso after the New Zealand Visa RB debutant overtook the two-time world champion as he stormed into the top ten from 19th in Austin.

During the Saturday sprint, Lawson’s aggressive demeanor infuriated Alonso, and he spoke very unflatteringly about the young driver on the radio, even settling matters with him after the finish.

But this did not affect Liam, he continued to demonstrate his fighting qualities on Sunday, famous for the Aston Martin driver in the first segment of the American Grand Prix distance. But this time Fernando reacted very normally, and Lawson appreciated it.

“He was actually quite nice today,” said Liam, who finished ninth in the weekend’s feature race. “I expected him to fight me more aggressively, but everything went well. I think we both acted very sensibly because it was a very early stage of the race and at that point the hard tires were working very well.

Of course Fernando is a very experienced professional, much more experienced than me, and I have a lot to learn from him, so I am happy with my race.

I remember as a child watching races with his participation on TV. I was still involved in karting at the time and obviously had a lot of respect for him and his achievements in Formula 1.”

In his first race of the season, Lawson gained 10 positions to earn points ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, his more experienced Visa RB teammate, and showed Red Bull executives what he was capable of.

“Of course this is important,” the American publication Racer quotes him as saying. “It’s clear that this is what I’m here for, I have a goal in Formula 1 and I understand the importance of this race. But there are still five equally important races ahead, for which we must prepare as carefully as possible.

Considering where I started on Sunday, it was difficult to expect much progress, and it certainly wasn’t easy to progress, but the car worked well, and if the car does exactly what you want it to do, it gives you some good chances. .

“I had also prepared very hard over the past 12 months, knowing that at some point I had to take my chance, so I trained hard and was ready to get behind the wheel again.”