Liam Lawson had a frustrating end to his FIA Formula 2 Feature Race on Sunday when he crashed out of Acque Mineral, prompting a third Safety Car period of the race to come out until the chequered flag fell.

The Kiwi also had a difficult start to the weekend. He struggled during qualifying in the rain-soaked Imola and eventually finished P14 when the session ended.

The Carlin driver found it difficult to adapt to the changing conditions and ultimately could not put it altogether.

“Qualifying was a little bit frustrating, disappointing, the car was actually really fast, especially in wet conditions.

“When we went out for our second run the track was quite dry in places. And because the tyres are obviously extremely soft it was really one lap I had to put it together. I got a little bit unlucky with traffic and yellow flags and I didn’t get a proper lap in. That’s why we qualified 14th.”

Saturday’s Sprint Race saw the Red Bull Junior Team driver breeze past the midfield and even had a fantastic wheel-to-wheel scrap with a fellow Red Bull Academy member Ayumu Iwasa in the DAMS car going into Rivazza. Lawson was victorious in that battle and snatched the final point in the Sprint Race.

“Yesterday, I moved forwards as much as I could I think in the Sprint Race, [it’s] a bit hard to overtake here, so was pretty happy with P8. I definitely felt that the car was fast enough to be racing at the front, it’s just hard to overtake.”

However, Sunday was no easy day in the office for Lawson as a Safety Car, and a gamble on the strategy played against him in the Feature Race. When he did eventually pit with ten laps to go, he emerged out of the points and in P16.

“Today, had a really good start, went for a bit of a gamble on the strategy, and just basically got really unlucky with the Safety Car early on in the race when everyone boxed and we didn’t get one in.”

With his crashing out on Lap 32, this quickly became a weekend to forget for the Carlin driver.

“Then there was the crash as well, something in the steering broke when I was coming up the hill and basically I just went straight, I couldn’t turn the car and hit the wall.”

Reflecting on the events, he said there were positives despite the setback that Imola produced.

“A bit disappointing but the positives are still there, the car is fast and if we get a little bit of luck and put everything together we will be on it.”

Liam believes that a little bit of luck should help them turn things around in Barcelona in Round 4.

Image: Red Bull Media Hou