'I was heavily compromised' - Liam Lawson pins qualifying exit on Yuki Tsunoda horror crash

Liam Lawson feels he was "heavily compromised" by Yuki Tsunoda's huge qualifying accident at Imola, which contributed to his Q1 exit.

Lawson fell in 16th place at Imola, but will be promoted to 15th following Franco Colapinto's penalty, but the Racing Bulls driver did not get what he felt would have been a representative lap, following Tsunoda's crash early on and then Colapinto's one in the dying embers of Q1.

Team-mate Isack Hadjar was ninth, ahead of both Ferraris, reflecting the pace Lawson felt was in his car, but which could not be accessed as a result of the crashes. 

"I was heavily compromised with the first red flag, and then during the lap on the second red flag," Lawson reflected to media including RacingNews365. 

"But it is just one of those things, obviously we are all out there to try and make the most of these situations, but today we were on the receiving end, we definitely had a fast car.

"It's been quick all weekend, we went different ways to learn some stuff, we learned a lot, which was cool, and we applied it to the car, which worked well. The first lap we were quite competitive, but didn't get the shot."

When pushed by RacingNews365 on the accident for Tsunoda, Lawson felt he had simply "paid the price" on a tricky circuit like Imola.

"We all as drivers like this track, we like driving on old school circuits with high-risk, very high commitment," he said.

"You're placing your wheel on the edge of the white line when there is grass next to it in so many places, and you go into qualifying, take that last 1% and sometimes, this is the price you pay.

"You never want to see a crash like that, and we are glad he is alright, but I guess that is what can happen on a circuit like this."