“It's just a sick track” Lawson is excited for the Singapore Grand Prix
Written by Bo Helmus
Last week, Formula One fans were treated to the first wet race of the season. This week, it might rain again. Someone who definitely wouldn’t mind some drops of rain in Singapore is Liam Lawson.
In Malaysia, the Kiwi driver qualified 11th-fastest. However, he gained seven places when the lights went off. On top of that, Lawson was battling pole-sitter Max Verstappen into the first turn.
Masterclass rain start
“It wasn't expected, definitely, from where I was starting,” Lawson started. “I just didn't have any wheelspin on the initial drop. And I think, in the wet, that's what makes the biggest difference. If you have wheelspin, it's very hard to get going.
“Just everyone kept sort of going back past me, and I didn't expect to be fighting Max in Turn 1. It put us in a really good position because I think, regardless of how our speed was, it was good through the race, but it just put us in obviously great track position. And from there we had quite a smooth race.”
The driver from New Zealand has been working on his starts: “I mean, the wet's very specific. And in general, we've had, I'd say, OK starts, not the best, honestly. So there's always improvement there. For now I'd obviously love it to rain every weekend to have starts like that.
“But it helped as well, obviously, there were a couple of guys on slicks as well in front of me. Obviously big credit to the team because they put me on the right set of tyres.”
Driving at night
The Marina Bay Street Circuit is very different from the Sepang International Circuit. Not only the lay-out, but also the temperatures, the time they’re racing at, and, not least important: this will be a sprint weekend. Lawson talks about the weekend ahead: “I like it. I mean, it's a really good track. And with Sprint weekends, you just get sort of two shots at everything. So yeah, I'm excited.
“I think we normally start, at least recently, we've started the weekends quite strong as well. And then now I feel like everybody else has sort of caught up, so some of that gets taken away. Obviously, hopefully we can start strong here, but it's just a sick track. Yeah, really, really cool. It's a night race, obviously, as well. So I'm excited.”
Driving two different cars
The first races after the summer break, Lawson switched his Racing Bulls seat for a drive in the Red Bull. He now has to get used to his VCARB03 again. He compares the two cars: “I mean, other than the power unit, pretty much everything, honestly.
“It's very different to drive. So, it was definitely a little bit of an adjustment to go back. But then the car is different, but also the way you sort of, just the way the steering is, for example, is a bit more personal to me and my car.”
“It was an adjustment for sure, but there's honestly strengths and weaknesses from both, to be honest. It's quite interesting to drive both, and you could honestly argue that if you put them together, you'd have a pretty fast race car.”
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