Racing Bulls describe key Liam Lawson change key to Hungary boost

Racing Bulls describe key Liam Lawson change key to Hungary boost

Racing Bulls boss Alan Permane has highlighted a change made by Liam Lawson in Free Practice 2 in Hungary, key to a strong performance.

Lawson placed seventh in FP2 after the soft tyre qualifying runs, and was two-tenths slower than Isack Hadjar in the Red Bull, and even ahead of the McLaren of Oscar Piastri, who did not get a clean lap. 

Team-mate Arvid Lindblad backed up Lawson's performance by putting the sister car also within the top 10, with the two also both placing within it during the opening practice session. 

Reflecting on the day, Permane described a "not straightforward" outing, and described Lawson's change.

"It’s not been as straightforward for us compared to the last couple of races; the car was quite tricky in FP1, and we made more changes than we normally would in between sessions," Permane said.

"But we got on top of things for FP2. As ever here, things close up; with the shorter lap, there's a lot of medium speed, which we’re focusing on and making sure we’ve got a stable car on entries with good traction in the last sector, which is especially important. 

"Liam made a change for the final lap on softs today, and that worked well, helping the rear end. It’s difficult to know exactly where we sit performance-wise, but it looks like we are in decent shape and will refine things further in FP3."

As for Lawson himself, he was content with the running and optimistic over his chances heading into Saturday.

"I'm feeling good having wrapped up Friday here in Budapest," said Lawson. 

"The car seems pretty quick; however, it's a very challenging track, so it can be difficult to put a lap together. 

"We'll be working on making the necessary changes overnight in order to give ourselves the best possible chance to reach Q3 in Qualifying. 

"I really enjoy racing at the Hungaroring, so I'm excited to get back out there tomorrow."