Liam Lawson admits to being caught out by F1 rival

Liam Lawson had conceded to being caught out by the step Alpine has taken over F1's five-week spring break.

Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto have been in strong form at the Miami International Autodrome, with the Team Enstone pair qualifying within the top 10 in both qualifying sessions on the back of improvements to the A526.

The New Zealander, meanwhile, had to settle for P12 in the main grid-setting hour, having struggled with a brake issue for much of the Miami Grand Prix weekend.

"Our braking issue came in quali, we didn't have it in practice," the Racing Bulls driver told media, including RacingNews365.

"Unfortunately, it literally caught us out on Lap 1, but outside of that, the car has been okay, and today, I think we qualified about where we are.

"The gap to the Alpines is too much; they've made a big step this weekend. So, yeah, obviously a little bit of work to do, but I think we maximised what we have today."

Despite the new F1 era seeing the top teams increase their performance advantage, as was expected, the midfield has remained close.

However, Alpine has moved slightly clear of its peers in Florida, leading to Gasly taking the final point in the sprint.

When asked if Alpine's improvement had caught him out, Lawson agreed, with the rival team a few tenths of a second quicker than Racing Bulls.

"It definitely did," the 24-year-old replied. "This is, I guess, how it's going to be this year.

"Each race people are going to bring different upgrades, and it's definitely a development race.

"Obviously, we'll learn a lot. A lot of teams have some interesting stuff on their cars this weekend, as well, that we can look at. So yeah, I'm sure we can learn from that."