Pressure “not too much of an issue,” for Race 2 winner Lawson

The shackles appear to have come off for Liam Lawson in his second season of Formula 3, with the Race 2 winner now relived of the pressure that hampered him at times during his debut campaign.

The Hitech Grand Prix racer has admitted that the weight of being a Red Bull junior played on his mind in his debut season, something that he has now not just become accustomed too, but is revelling in. Nothing seemed to faze Lawson on Sunday as he rose from fifth to first to seal his first F3 victory.

“Going into the first year, stepping into FIA Formula 3, it was a big step from German F4,” explained Lawson. “I think that there was definitely a bit of pressure there, starting with Red Bull. That was something that I definitely thought about a lot, but it is something that you get used to.

“We are fighting for the Championship this year though and that is what we are pushing for. If you think about that stuff too much, then it doesn’t help in any way. For me, it is not too much of an issue.

“I have an awesome opportunity with Hitech this year. It is a step up and something that I am looking forward to continuing.”

For most, the joy of securing your first win might be enough, but not for Lawson, who says that his ambitions are far from satisfied.

He continued: “We pushed a lot for this last year and we got close. We got a second and a third, but we couldn't quite get the win, so it is very nice to win today. “It is a reverse grid race though and we want to be starting at the front and winning Race 1s, and that is what we will work towards.”

Lawson struggled to get the tyres up to temperature in Qualifying on the Friday, which left him starting on the backfoot from P12 in Race 1.

The Kiwi was able to impressively claw his way to sixth, but with a title challenge on his mind, he’d have been eyeing more points from the first race.

“Qualy was our biggest struggle this weekend and it is definitely what we need to work on next weekend. It was a good recovery weekend from where we Qualified and I am looking forward to coming back next week.”