Liam Lawson frustrated by missed US GP chance following Aston Martin sandwich

Liam Lawson has explained his frustration at being caught in an 'Aston Martin sandwich' which he felt cost him points in the United States.

In the closing stages of the Austin race, Lawson was running in 11th place, just behind Fernando Alonso with Lance Stroll closing in rapidly in the sister AMR25 machine. 

Starting 12th, behind Alonso, Lawson moved up after the Carlos Sainz/Kimi Antonelli collision, but was still outside the points as Yuki Tsunoda leapfrogged him. 

Ultimately, Alonso was able to fend off Lawson's challenge and back him into Stroll, the New Zealander finishing 1.569s ahead of the Canadian, and 3.208s behind Alonso.

It marks the fourth time in five races Lawson has failed to score points, as he believed Alonso was simply backing him into Stroll. 

"Aston had us in control today, having Fernando in front and Lance behind," he told media, including RacingNews365.

"It was tough. We’ve had a fast car this weekend, but missed out. Our race pace wasn’t amazing, but at the same time, I spent the whole race on Fernando’s gearbox.

"It’s frustrating to have no points.

"There was also more [pace] from Fernando. He was just pushing me back towards Lance.

"We had speed to fight for points, but we couldn’t hook it up, which is surprising. We had a very fast car [on Saturday] but at the same time, it's very close right now.

"So to have a pace advantage over anybody is very, very tough."