Liam Lawson explains Racing Bulls' 'struggle' despite Shanghai step

Liam Lawson has insisted the characteristics of the Shanghai International Circuit do not play to Racing Bulls' strengths as it failed to carry over momentum from the opening round in Melbourne.

Lawson failed to advance out of the second sprint qualifying segment and is due to start Saturday's one-third distance race from 13th.

The New Zealander was joined in the SQ2 drop zone by team-mate Arvid Lindblad, creating a much different picture to Australia, where both cars qualified for the grand prix inside the top 10.

Despite his early exit, Lawson admitted he was pleased with the step taken after the sole 60-minute practice outing.

“I was actually quite happy,” Lawson said.

“We made a good step from practice to qualifying with the setup and it was not a bad lap.

“We just struggled a little bit more here than last week. Melbourne suited our car and here, it's not as good for us.

“We need to try and do some work but in terms of set-up, I actually felt quite happy.”

Throughout the opening day of running in Shanghai, drivers noted they were suffering from tyre graining in cooler temperatures.

Lawson is expecting the concern to remain as the weekend progresses.

“It was not good, similar to everybody, we had a lot of graining,” he said. “It's going to be tough [in the sprint race].

“But we saw last year a lot of graining in the sprint and less in the race, so it's probably going to change through the weekend.

“It's very cold, so I'm sure it's going to be a challenge.”