Liam Lawson frustrated by F1 rivals after sprint qualifying 'risk'

Liam Lawson has voiced frustration after being held up by other F1 drivers during his final lap in sprint qualifying.

However, the New Zealander acknowledged the team took a risk by opting to set just one lap attempt in SQ2.

Lawson failed to register a time in the second segment of the session after getting caught up in traffic, meaning he is set to start Saturday's shorter race from 15th on the grid.

Lawson admitted he felt he had a fast car underneath him throughout the day and sees a silver lining in knowing he will enter grand prix qualifying with a competitive package.

“We took the risk, looking back, trying to do one lap. Most people did two,” Lawson said.

“The car was fast, the first part of the lap I don’t even know if the Williams did a lap because it was the end of the session.  They came out of the box in front of me and then came straight back in.

“I got blocked in the first part of the lap and then at the end of the lap as well.

“It’s how it is sometimes, but it felt a little bit extra that time. It’s frustrating because the car felt very fast.

“In Q1, we only did one lap and it was well strong enough. It’s positive for [qualifying] but it’s going to be a tough sprint race from where we are.”

With just 19 laps making up the sprint race on Saturday, Lawson acknowledged it is likely too much of an ask to break into the points.

“Points will be hard, that’s making up seven places,” he said.

“We’re going to be pushing for it for sure, we’ll look at tyres. Maybe we can do something special with strategy.

“But with this temperature and heat, probably not. We’ll try move forward at least and build a good race car for Sunday.”