Liam Lawson delivers 'not ideal' verdict after Monza frustration

Liam Lawson has stated it was “not ideal” to take an engine-related grid penalty at the Italian Grand Prix.

The New Zealander continued his substitute stint at Red Bull last weekend as Isack Hadjar recovers from a wrist injury picked up during the summer break.

Red Bull used the weekend to introduce a new engine to Hadjar's pool, with Lawson taking the grid penalty hit.

It meant that he had to start the race from the back of the grid as he looked to add to his points tally this year.

“We’ve taken the engine penalty, so we really focused on long runs [during practice],” Lawson told media including RacingNews365.

“Obviously, it's not great, not ideal taking an engine. But I think we had the speed to come through.

“We’d done all the work to have a good race car, which we did. It's just unfortunate we had some issues yesterday, which we were able to resolve today for the race, and the car was much better.

“Trying to make up for 30 seconds is very tough.”

Lawson ended the race in 14th place, marking just the fourth time this year that he has failed to cross the line inside the top 10.

His task was made more difficult when several midfield runners pitted under a virtual safety, giving them a fresh tyre boost.

When asked what would have been possible without the VSC intervention, Lawson said: “We were quick enough to come right through, so probably more points.”