Liam Lawson has identified Racing Bulls’ current key weakness as "putting everything together" in qualifying.
The New Zealander found strong form in the final rounds before Formula 1’s summer break, scoring points in four of the last seven Grands Prix.
Despite a difficult start to the season for the Faenza-based outfit following his demotion from Red Bull, Lawson has closed the gap to team-mate Isack Hadjar to just two points.
Lawson carries strong momentum into this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, where he made his competitive F1 debut two years ago.
However, while his recent form has been encouraging, he has only scored points when advancing to Q3 in qualifying.
Consistently reaching Q3 remains a challenge for the 23-year-old, who is working closely with the team to consistently extract performance from the car amid an intense midfield battle.
Discussing what needs to be unlocked from the Racing Bulls package, Lawson told select media including RacingNews365: "I think the main thing at the moment is that Formula 1 is very, very close at the moment.
"The teams are all within very small margins, and it's makes it obviously that bit more important to extract everything out of the car and out of the drivers in qualifying.
"So the speed has been very, very good in the car. So basically, putting everything together for qualifying is what's needed.
"And we've not been able to do that every single time, and not enough. And that's what we're basically trying to do."
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