Lawson ‘pushed a bit too hard’ while Lindblad bounces back from tough week as Racing Bulls get both cars in Singapore top 10
Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad both reached the top 10 in qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix, but each left Marina Bay convinced there was more to come from Racing Bulls.
Lawson qualified ninth with a 1m32.369s, 0.144 seconds behind Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in eighth. Lindblad took tenth, a further 0.412s back. With George Russell serving an engine penalty, both are in line to move up one place on Sunday’s grid.
Lawson felt Q3 was where the extra position slipped away.
“It was a great lap, unfortunately I pushed a bit too hard in Q3 and we went a little bit slower, which is a bit frustrating,” he said. “We had a really quick car today and had the potential to be one place higher.”
He kept the disappointment in proportion. “Honestly it’s not the end of the world, but you want to put together the best lap in Q3 and I didn’t today.”
Gasly is the target for Sunday, and Lawson rates the Alpine highly in race trim. “We’ll definitely try, they’ve been very strong in the races honestly,” he said. “I feel like we made a step in Malaysia but obviously a very different circuit here, and we don’t really have any reference because of the way the race was today on Inters. So it’ll be interesting tomorrow.”
Lindblad’s route to Q3 was far more disrupted. His week at the street circuit had been difficult from the start, with issues in FP1 limiting his laps and little running in sprint qualifying or the sprint race that followed.
“I’ve only done five laps going into the Qualy now, so I’m happy with how I built throughout the session,” he said. “I felt like I got to a good level in Q2.”
Q3 did not match that progress. “I wasn’t very happy with it. When I wanted to put it all on the line, just didn’t have the same grip,” Lindblad explained. “I need to understand why. I think the tyre wasn’t the easiest today.”
Race preparation is the other unknown for him. “I haven’t done a single lap in race mode,” Lindblad said. “Not even thinking about the fuel, just in the mode itself.”
He still sees value in the grid slot, given how difficult overtaking is at Marina Bay. “We know it’s going to be difficult to pass here, but I think the qualifying is very important here and we’re in a good position for tomorrow,” he said. “So it’s a good start.”
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