Liam Lawson hailed his Austrian Grand Prix performance after finally completing a crucial milestone of achieving a "big result", something he "knew all year" he had not done.
The Racing Bulls driver qualified in a superb sixth at the Red Bull Ring and capitalised on Max Verstappen crashing out, securing sixth in the race – his best F1 result.
It meant he not only claimed his best result, but that he crossed the finish line as the top Red Bull family driver, ahead of both Isack Hadjar and Yuki Tsunoda.
Lawson has faced significant pressure this season following his demotion from Red Bull after just two races; however, he is starting to deliver stronger performances.
For the New Zealander, it is a relief to have finally scored big points; however, he has recognised that he must keep delivering results.
"Yeah, it's nice to have a result," Lawson told select media, including RacingNews365.
"Obviously, we're all focused, and we spend a lot of time, working on our heads and putting ourselves in the right mindset.
"In the back of my mind, I knew all year that I'd had no big result at all, so it's nice to have that. But at the same time, it's one good weekend. We need to keep doing this going forward."
Viewed by others:
Lawson weekends clicking
Lawson's pace has improved considerably over recent races, with him becoming a more consistent threat for the top 10 places.
Since finishing eighth in Monaco, Lawson has shown good pace in Barcelona, Canada and now Austria, suggesting that he has settled back into Racing Bulls.
"Yeah, the last couple of weekends, Canada, we had really good speed in practice; Barcelona, we had good speed in practice, Monaco as well but didn't convert into a result," added Lawson.
"We've been pushing a lot with the car, and especially on our side of the garage, they've been doing a lot of work to make me comfortable. We made some changes this weekend, and they worked really, really well.
"But we need to, obviously, keep pushing. It's sometimes like that in Formula 1. Sometimes the speed and everything can be there, but there are a lot of variables in the sport, and they worked for us this weekend."
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding, as they look back at the Austrian GP but also take a look ahead to Silverstone. Max Verstappen's title chances are a lead discussion, as is whether Lando Norris can for the first time this year secure back-to-back wins.
Rather watch the podcast? Then click here!
Most read
In this article
Join the conversation!