Liam Lawson puzzled over crucial Bahrain GP in Malaysia question

Liam Lawson says he has "absolutely no idea" about what the best race tyre in the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia will be.

Lawson qualified in 11th place for the Sepang race, which will take place on a track surface which has been described as sandpaper-like and is causing high levels of tyre wear. 

The soft tyres used in qualifying were able to only complete one flying lap and could not be used for secondary laps, with drivers tending to keep the hard tyres for what is expected to be a potential three-stop race, but soft tyres could also be used as a viable race tyre.

This variability is in contrast to recent races, such as Azerbaijan, where the tyres suffered little degradation, with the unpredictability creating a major unknown about race strategy. 

For Lawson's Racing Bulls, his team was able to gather extra data on long runs as team-mate Arvid Lindblad dedicated more time them through practice as he is carrying a back of the grid penalty for changing engine parts.

Despite having this extra knowledge, Lawson felt in the dark about what the best strategy would look like in the 56-lap race.

"I think we put a lot of effort into the long runs this weekend, so I am happy as it is not normally our strength to be honest, so it is going to be very tough," Lawson told media, including RacingNews365.

"It'll be a race where qualifying won't make the biggest difference; it is not like Madrid, but with the overtaking [opportunities], I think the race is going to be wide open, but we're with guys who were very strong in the long runs."

When it was put to Lawson that the team would have the benefit of Lindblad's extra knowledge of completing more long runs in practice due to his penalty, Lawson indicated it could be. 

"I think so," he said when asked if Lindblad's extra data would help. "It is something we'll obviously get to reflect on. He did some more long-running in FP3, so we'll try to put together a quick car. 

When then asked if he knew what the best race tyre would be, Lawson simply said: "Yeah, I have absolutely no idea."

The article continues below. 

Just knocked out in Q2

Reflecting on being bumped out by Bortoleto, Lawson indicated it was "frustrating", but was struggling with overheating. 

"It's just frustrating because we were quite clear of them in FP3, honestly, and on Friday as well," he said.

"I don't really know where where we've lost speed, but we just struggled a lot with tyres through the session, overheating through the lap and was felt like more of an issue."