Liam Lawson breathes sigh of relief after 'hard time' from F1 rival

Liam Lawson admitted Pierre Gasly was giving him “a hard time” in the closing stages of the Canadian Grand Prix as he expressed relief at securing a top-seven finish.

Lawson started the race from outside the top 10 but steadily worked his way through the field as the grand prix unfolded.

In the final laps, the Racing Bulls driver came under intense pressure from Gasly while trying to nurse a set of ageing soft tyres to the finish.

Gasly, by contrast, was running on the harder compound after making his pit stop on the same lap as Lawson and appeared to have a pace advantage.

Despite the pressure, Lawson held firm to claim seventh place, matching his best result of the season.

“He [Gasly] was definitely giving me a hard time in the race,” Lawson told media including RacingNews365. 

“He was a lot quicker than us at that point, honestly. The Alpines had really good race pace.

“It's something we could look at, maybe tyre strategy as well, maybe the hard tyre would have worked better.

“I'm not sure, but considering everything this weekend, it's been a good result.”

Lawson was the only Racing Bulls entry in the grand prix, after Arvid Lindblad encountered a problem on the formation lap.  

When asked if the strong points result is a consolation for the one-car show, Lawson replied: “Yeah, it definitely is. 

“It's a shame what happened, I don't know what happened to Arvid completely yet. 

“But at least to bring home points, obviously, it's good.”