Liam Lawson “completely screwed” by DRS issue in Bahrain F1 qualifying
The Racing Bulls driver was eliminated in Q1 on Saturday.
Liam Lawson says his chances of progressing into the second part of Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying were “completely screwed” by a DRS issue.
Lawson had set a strong banker lap in Q1 but was unable to go any faster after the DRS on his VCARB 02 closed halfway down the back straight, severely compromising his straightline performance.
The problem left him a distant 17th on the grid, while his teammate Isack Hadjar showed the potential of Racing Bulls in Bahrain by qualifying 12th.
Having set the 12th-quickest time himself in similar conditions in FP2, Lawson was frustrated to be knocked out of Q1 for the third time in four race weekends this season.
"I don't know why it closed, obviously if it was something I did,” he said.
“I'll learn from it, definitely because that's completely screwed us today. But as to why it did, I don't know. It's such a shame."
Speaking to Formula1.com, he added: “Q1 was alright uptil that point. I don't know what really happened.
“I know I had wheelspin out of the corner and opened the DRS, and it closed again basically. Pretty frustrating obviously. Just sucks.”
The DRS is designed to shut automatically whenever a driver lifts off the throttle or hits the brake pedal. It can also be manually closed with a button on the steering wheel.
Racing Bull’s technical director Tim Goss explained why Lawson’s DRS didn’t remain active until the end of the straight.
"In the tricky conditions Liam picked up a little wheelspin on exit from Turn 10, resulting in a small throttle lift to keep the car under control causing DRS to automatically close, which caused him to lose vital speed on the straight,” he said.
Despite his poor starting position, Lawson is optimistic about his chances on Sunday, having felt his car has been competitive in practice in the build-up to qualifying.
“It's been quite quick,” he said. “It’s been quick this weekend in most of the practice sessions, I would say.
“For us it was just putting it together in quali and tuning it.
“I think we had the car in a pretty good window and the speed was there, it’s just a shame for the issue.
“For tomorrow, it's obviously positive, with the speed we have we should move forward, it's just how far we could move forward.”
