Liam Lawson rues ‘silly mistake’ as he exits in Q1 on his Red Bull debut in Australia

“The first part of the lap was fine,” he said following his early exit. “We were on target and then I just made a mistake in the last sector. I had a big slide through the high-speed and it cooked the tyres. Then, in the last sector, I just had no tyres and I went off.

“Obviously, a silly mistake so probably one that didn’t need to happen. I think we were in a decent position building up from the lap we were on anyway, so it’s pretty frustrating.”

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Heavy rain has been forecast for Sunday’s Grand Prix, and Lawson made no secret that he will need the conditions to cause some intrigue ahead if he is to progress through the field.

Asked if the car has been improved enough for him to fight in the race, Lawson added: “I think so. I think that we’re in a position to – the car looks a lot better today than it did yesterday.

“Obviously, if it rains, it throws everything up in the air but I think I need it to rain if I want to have a chance at moving forward, so let’s see.”