Untelevised Liam Lawson radio after latest Racing Bulls battle

Liam Lawson was left questioning what was wrong with his Racing Bulls after repeatedly losing wheel-to-wheel battles on the straights at Spa.

One of those duels came against team-mate Arvid Lindblad, with the rookie, who was running the only upgraded VCARB 03, getting the better of the Kiwi in an incident that was noted by Race Control.

Liam Lawson says Racing Bulls lacked straight-line speed at Spa

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Lindblad, running the upgraded VCARB 03 with its new engine cover, roll hoop, front corner and rear wing, lined up seventh on the Spa-Francorchamps grid after reaching Q3. Lawson missed out by just 0.038 seconds.

The team-mates started seventh and ninth respectively after penalties for other drivers, with Lawson showing the stronger pace in the opening laps.

Lawson became the first driver inside the top 10 to pit on Lap 16 and rejoined behind Lindblad, setting up a fierce intra-team battle.

Running side-by-side through Eau Rouge, Lindblad squeezed Lawson, who ran through the gravel as they continued battling towards Les Combes.

Race Control noted the incident for ‘forcing another driver off the track’, but ultimately ruled that no further action was required.

Lindblad attributed the close call to his energy deployment.

“The deployment wasn’t amazing. Even though I pressed the boost, I pressed it about 50 metres too late, and that was why he was so close to me,” he told PlanetF1.com and other accredited media at Spa.

“And then, yeah, we both braked late, but I was obviously arriving pretty quickly on the McLaren, and I couldn’t commit fully because I would have run into the back of Oscar.

“So Liam got me there.

“I tried it again into Turn 7, but wasn’t able to. Then I waited a couple of laps, tried to manage my tyres a little bit, and I knew that as soon as he lost the group ahead and I had overtake available, I would have one shot, and I made sure to use it properly.”

Lindblad went on to finish the Grand Prix in ninth place, while Lawson finished outside the points for the first time in six races, crossing the line in 12th.

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Aside from losing out to Lindblad, Lawson was also overtaken by Gabriel Bortoleto and Alpine team-mates Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly, with both Alpines passing him on the Kemmel Straight.

Lawson lamented his lack of straight-line speed over the team radio as he returned to the pits after the race.

“Every single wheel-to-wheel combat I had today, I lost on the straights,” he told the Racing Bulls pit wall.

“I don’t know what else I was meant to do.”

His race engineer, Ernesto Desiderio, replied: “I know, Liam. I know. There was something not right. We’ll review exactly what it was.”

Speaking to the media afterwards, Lawson admitted he simply lacked the pace to compete.

“We were just too slow overall, so it’s frustrating,” he said.

“But honestly, after qualifying, I knew we weren’t as quick as we needed to be. I got a good start, but after that it was just a losing battle throughout the race.”

Lawson remains 10th in the Drivers’ Championship on 39 points, 17 ahead of Lindblad.

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