Liam Lawson is adamant that what unfolded across the Italian Grand Prix weekend was "not as bad as it looks", despite what appears on the surface to be a horrible few days for the New Zealander.
Monza marked only the second time Lawson returned to a circuit he had previous knowledge of in F1, given his outing at the famed Autodromo in 2023 when he deputised for Daniel Ricciardo after the Australian had broken a finger.
But it was far from smooth sailing as he was only 17th quickest in practice on Friday after making setup changes to his Racing Bulls between the two sessions that "didn't go as planned", according to Lawson.
Attempts to optimise the car overnight fell flat when Lawson made a mistake in qualifying after picking up dirty air from a car ahead and understeering off through the first Lesmo, leading to him starting 18th and last of those on the grid.
Lawson rose only four places by the chequered flag, leaving him an understandably frustrated figure, and indicating that Monza's specific track characteristics had not played to the car's core strengths.
"Monza's very unique, it's very low downforce," said Lawson, speaking to the media, including RacingNews365.
"I don't think the car was necessarily slow, but compared to the previous week in Zandvoort [for the Dutch GP], it wasn't as strong.
"But we also had our fair share of issues, which didn't help us, so it's probably not as bad as it looks."
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Lawson spies Baku balance
Lawson's next test is the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, and the equally as unique Baku Street Circuit he last visited in 2022 when he was in F2 with Carlin with whom he finished on the podium in the sprint.
The track comprises numerous 90-degree turns before culminating in the longest straight on the F1 calendar that leads into one of the prime overtaking spots of the year.
With more of a low-downforce setup required, although not as aggressive as Monza, Lawson feels the car should perform better than last year when Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda could only qualify 15th and 12th, respectively.
"We'll run the simulations and try and come up with the best balance we can, and then see how the car is there," said Lawson.
"Last year it was a pretty tough race for the team, but hopefully this year, with how the car has been recently, we can have a strong weekend."
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding, as they look back on the Italian Grand Prix! Max Verstappen's dominant win is a lead discussion, as is whether McLaren has set a precedent with its controversial team orders.
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