Liam Lawson details confidence boost ahead of Madrid F1 debut

Liam Lawson has detailed where he has found extra confidence as he prepares for his third outing this season with Red Bull.

The New Zealander will continue to stand in for Isack Hadjar for the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend, with the latter recovering from a wrist injury.

The Madring in Madrid is hosting F1 for the first time, and the tight, high-speed corners are expected to pose a challenge for the drivers.

Having experienced the new track in the simulator only, Lawson insisted it is impossible to guess where it will stack up in the pecking order until after practice.

“Madrid is going to be an interesting weekend for everyone,” Lawson said.

“We've only run the track in the simulator so far, so the first practice session will tell us a lot about where we really stand. 

“It's a unique circuit and the banked corner should make things interesting.”

Lawson endured a difficult weekend last time out at Monza, as a grid penalty for a new engine demoted him to the back of the field.

He was only able to climb as far as 14th - his lowest classification of the year.

However, Lawson insisted he is feeling positive as he pointed to the pace that both he and Red Bull unlocked throughout the event.

“Monza was a challenging weekend from the start with the engine change putting us on the back foot, so it was difficult to fully show what we were capable of,” he said.

“The positive is that we found some good pace as the weekend progressed, which gives us confidence heading into Madrid."