Carlin driver Liam Lawson had a very disappointing weekend during Round 8 of FIA Formula 2 at Austria, bringing home only one point across both the Sprint Race and Feature Race.
Entering this race weekend, Lawson found himself 4th in the Driver Standings with 59 points following a podium at Silverstone.
However, he leaves Austria having fallen to 10th in the Driver Standings and was outscored by the following drivers this weekend to shift him down the order:
- 9th place – Jack Doohan (63 points)
- 8th place – Juri Vips (67 points)
- 7th place – Dennis Hauger (67 points)
- 6th place – Marcus Armstrong (69 points)
- 5th place – Enzo Fittipaldi (75 points)
Lawson had two penalties for track limit violations late in the Feature Race, which was partly to blame for his poor result. These violations added up to 10 seconds which the stewards tacked onto his final time for the race.
After the race, Lawson spoke about the weekend as a whole, stating: “A difficult weekend, the speed again was very strong.
“The issue in qualifying was that I got done for track limits, basically. It’s a shame because we were quite fast and we should have been far higher up the grid.”
The Carlin driver then spoke regarding the track limits violations he received and how the sensor works, saying: “Yesterday we had a drive shaft failure in the Sprint Race and today…today was my mistake.
“I obviously went wider than I should have a couple of times, and this one’s on me.”
“It does seem that the way the sensor works [is] if you slide out a bit, your rear is over, but the front is still in, you trigger the sensor.
“It’s the same for everybody, so I screwed up. The speed was good, and that is why the penalty hurts even more.”
Lawson will look for a strong recovery performance in Round 9 in France to bring himself back into the top five of the Driver Standings.
Image Credit: Red Bull Media House