Liam Lawson laments ‘tough weekend’ after failed slick tyre gamble in Australia

Seizing the opportunity to gain positions, Lawson remained on the track on his medium slicks, hoping to see out the shower and reap the rewards as the track dried. But with more rain falling than expected, he was helpless to keep his Red Bull out of the wall at Turn 2 when, on Lap 47, he spun up the rears and slid to the scene of the incident.

“We took a chance, hoping that at least half of the track would stay dry,” he explained. “We knew that sector three was bad, but we thought that sector one would stay a bit drier, so we carried on. Unfortunately, it was bucketing down with rain.

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“At that point, to be honest, I’d backed out of pushing because it was so wet. I was just trying to stay on the track. But obviously, it’s not ideal.”

Asked if he had been surprised by his lack of progress to that point, he added: “Yeah, we were really struggling to be honest. I had a lot of tyre issues with the front early on in the race, so it’s just been a tough weekend.”