Racing Bulls highlight Liam Lawson weakness he must 'eliminate'

Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane has stated that Liam Lawson must “eliminate” minor mistakes from his performances.

Lawson has enjoyed a positive start to the new F1 campaign, scoring points in two of the opening four rounds.

It marks a much smoother start for the New Zealander compared to 12 months ago, when he was demoted by Red Bull after the opening two events of the season.

Permane stated that the additional time Lawson spent with Racing Bulls during pre-season has undoubtedly contributed to his strong start.

“I think it’s helped just be part of the team from the start, because obviously you can’t compare it to last year,” Permane told media including RacingNews365.

“You can't compare doing one and a half days of testing, starting from the pit lane for two races and then having to change teams. It can't be any worse than that.

“I said it many times, and I say again with Liam, I see immense talent there. Some of his performances last year were outstanding.”

However, Permane has identified one area in Lawson's etiquette that needs modifying.

“What he needs to do, and what he is doing so far, is eliminate mistakes,” he said.

“We can’t be qualifying third on the grid one weekend and then out in Q1 the following weekend, that sort of thing. 

He knows that. And he’s working hard to ensure that doesn’t happen.

“And if he doesn’t improve his top level, if he just eliminates the bad level and lifts everything up to what we know he’s capable of, that will already be a fantastic step. And that’s the next thing to build.

“But I’d much rather he works on… not worked on the absolute pace, because I think that’s there – it’s working on the consistency, which he’s doing.”