Liam Lawson details Max Verstappen 'surprise' after achieving F1 career-first

Liam Lawson has expressed surprise at being able to keep Max Verstappen behind him in the Hungarian Grand Prix on his way to a career-first.

Having qualified in ninth, one place behind Verstappen, Lawson initially found himself in front of the Red Bull, but was quickly passed in the opening laps. 

Red Bull then opted to pit Verstappen early, with the world champion dropping to P16 before mounting a recovery drive as Lawson ran long to secure an eighth-place finish after his stop, with Verstappen 3.2s behind. 

It is the first time in a race where both have finished this season that Lawson has finished ahead of Verstappen, with it also marking the first time the New Zealander has scored points in back-to-back races in his F1 career.

Lawson finished sixth in Belgium and has actually scored points in three of the last four races since Austria, when a front suspension upgrade aided his confidence.

Reflecting on his first F1 visit to Hungary, the Racing Bulls driver was satisfied.

"Yeah, a little bit," Lawson confirmed when asked by media, including RacingNews365, if he was surprised at beating Verstappen. 

"At the start, he was very fast and he got me on the first lap, but then they struggled with tyres, so I was kind of hoping it would be the same [towards the end of the race].

"So I knew if I kept him there for a few laps, maybe he would start to drop - and that's more or less what happened.

"The car has been very good recently, especially in races, and our long run pace has been very good, and we have a decent handle on the tyres, which is tough in the races.

"Had we started a bit higher up, we honestly had the potential to finish higher as well, so that's probably the learning from the weekend. 

"In the car, you feel like you want to undercut the guys in front of you, but obviously you are going to come out into traffic, and on a small track like this, it is quite hard [to pass].

"The speed was good towards the end of each stint, we were coming on strong, and so yeah, I am very happy."