Liam Lawson believes a poor start prevented him from finishing inside the points for AlphaTauri at the Italian Grand Prix. It was the second race for Lawson after he replaced Daniel Ricciardo at Zandvoort, with him finishing in 11th place just six seconds off Valtteri Bottas for points in 10th. It is the highest any driver has finished in the AlphaTauri not driven by Yuki Tsunoda all year, having qualified in 12th and within a tenth of his teammate. Lawson felt there was one area that prevented a points finish when discussing the race with media, including RacingNews365 : "We maybe had the pace for points, I'm not sure we'll have to look into it. "But I had a bad start that's where we think really lost the chance. I am a bit disappointed to be so close [to points]." Lawson lost several positions after his first pit-stop and elected to pit for a second time with 17 laps of the race left. Using the fresh rubber he climbed back up the order, but lost time to Bottas who had pitted eight laps earlier on the alternate strategy.
Lawson adjusting to long race distances
The AlphaTauri driver is still getting used to the longer F1 race distances, having mostly ran shortened races in Super Formula throughout the 2023 season. "These races are longer than I'm used to, so I’m definitely adjusting [to it]," said Lawson. "It's been something I've been working on for a while. For Singapore I have no idea what's going to happen right now [and if Ricciardo will come back], so I'll prepare like normal."
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