Liam Lawson has conceded he was prepared to take added risk to retain his position over Yuki Tsunoda in the dying laps of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
A successful weekend for Lawson saw him bag fifth place, the best result of his F1 career to date.
Lawson headed a small train of cars in the latter stages of the grand prix, with Tsunoda, championship contender Lando Norris and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton running in sixth, seventh and eighth respectively.
Tsunoda pitted long after Lawson had made his only stop, emerging on track marginally ahead of the New Zealander, before Lawson managed to claw back the spot in the following corners.
Lawson later expressed surprise at being able to remain ahead of Tsunoda and bring home the strong haul of points for Racing Bulls.
“He was on a fresh set of tyres, on a medium and a grippier tyre,” Lawson reflected, speaking to the media, including RacingNews365.
“Honestly, I was preparing for him to end up catching me quicker, and I expected them to be faster.
“Looking at Max [Verstappen], they had a great race, and the car looks good.
“When I saw him come out on a better tyre, I was expecting him to catch me faster.
“Our sector three was strong this weekend; it needed to be. And after the mistake with Kimi, I made sure I never ran out of energy again.”
Lawson clueless over race position
There was added scrutiny on the battle between Lawson and Tsunoda, given the duo swapped seats after the second round of the campaign.
But Lawson stated the thought of who he was battling did not weigh on his mind during the race, suggesting he treated Tsunoda no differently despite the Japanese driver competing for a sister team.
“I had no idea what position I was in until we crossed the line, but I knew we were in a decent position because of all the cars that were behind me,” he said. “So naturally, you're just trying to keep the car behind.
“It was the same with [Charles] Leclerc. It was the same with Kimi [Antonelli] at the start.
"At the end of the race, obviously, I'm going to try and take a bit more risk to keep it there.
“So I don't really think too much like that.”
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding, as they look back on the Azerbaijan Grand Prix! Oscar Piastri's shock Baku crashes are a major talking point, as is whether Max Verstappen has drawn himself back into the F1 title fight.
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