Liam Lawson issues honest reflection after upgrade wait

Liam Lawson offered an honest assessment after Belgian Grand Prix qualifying, admitting he got the most out of his Racing Bulls despite not having the upgrade fitted to Arvid Lindblad's car.

The New Zealander is without the new airbox upgrade at Spa-Francorchamps, although he is set to receive it for next weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix.

For Lindblad, it made a significant difference, with the Briton progressing comfortably to Q3 while Lawson was eliminated in Q2.

Lawson qualified 11th but will start ninth due to grid penalties for Lando Norris and Isack Hadjar. However, he is unsure whether even a tow would have been enough to get him into the final part of qualifying.

Asked if a tow would have gained him much lap time, Lawson told select media, including RacingNews365: "I mean, maybe a little bit, but to be honest, even if we'd got into Q3, it was going to be P10. 

"Honestly, we've just not been quite quick enough all weekend. So, I think we put together quite a good car for what we had. I was very happy with the balance, but yeah, it just shows."

Racing Bulls' new package has performed brilliantly for Lindblad, who will start Sunday's race from seventh.

A friendly competition between Lindblad and Lawson decided who would receive the upgrade this weekend, with it going to the former after he qualified higher at Silverstone.

Nevertheless, there is some frustration for Lawson at not having the upgrade at Spa, given the difference it has made.

Discussing whether there was a little frustration at not having the upgrade, Lawson replied: "I mean, yeah, we've been slow all weekend, to be honest. So it's probably what we expected, a little bit. 

"Whether it's more powerful than we expected, I'm not sure. But it's definitely been costing us all weekend, and I think going into qualifying, honestly, we put together the best sort of car that we had. But they seem to have found quite a big step with the package they have."