Liam Lawson highlights surprising 'difficulty' in failed Monaco F1 experiment

Liam Lawson has claimed concentrating during the Monaco Grand Prix was "more difficult" than he anticipated amid the two-stop mandated race.

For the first time in the famed event's history, drivers were required to pit twice, a move made by F1 and the FIA to improve the spectacle around the streets of Monte Carlo.

However, it did not work, as it produced farcical strategies employed by teams, with drivers deliberately lapping slowly to allow their team-mates enough time to complete their pit stops ahead of them.

Racing Bulls executed that plan "perfectly", as Lawson pointed out, to help Isack Hadjar finish sixth, whilst the New Zealander came home in eighth to score his first points of the season.

"It's actually really a lot more difficult than I expected from a concentration point," the 23-year-old said to media, including RacingNews365, after the race, when discussing driving unnaturally slowly.

"But, it's something that from a team side made sense, and it's not often you have a plan that executes perfectly."

'The damage was done...'

Lawson played the team game well to afford Hadjar the time he required to make both his obligated pit stops in quick succession, even if it compromised his own afternoon.

Nonetheless, he believes his qualifying performance is the reason he did not finish as high up the order as he would have liked.

"I think obviously, when you make a decision like that, our race is limited to basically where I was in P8, but honestly, it's hard to overtake here anyway," he said.

"For us, on our side, the damage was done in quali [qualifying] yesterday, but for the team, it's a great result."

Having shown strong pace all weekend, Lawson was asked if he felt he had shrugged off some of his early season struggles.

"Not really, honestly," he replied. "It's great to score points, but obviously I'm wanting to finish higher.

"It's a good step that we made this weekend, but I think we're always looking for more."