27/08/2023
NEWS STORY
Liam Lawson: "The aim was to do all 72 laps today. When I first got on the grid and it started raining, it wasn't the best feeling.
"After that, we had no choice but to make the pitstop but unfortunately, we got a penalty and lost a huge amount of time during it. I think once we got clean air during the second half of the race and then driving on the intermediate tyres at the end, my pace wasn't so bad. There's some work to do, but I'm just happy to have gotten through the race, experiencing different conditions and scenarios, to be able to take them forward."
Yuki Tsunoda: "I showed good speed and had some exciting moments throughout the first part of the race, defending from quite a few cars, so I'm happy about that. Before the race, the team and I agreed on our strategy of staying out on the used soft tyre, and I thought we could make it until the end. The grip wasn't too bad, but the new tyre had more of an advantage than we thought, so it didn't pay off in the end. When it started raining, I thought it was better to come in, and I appreciated the team listening and respecting my call. In the end, I didn't have enough grip during the last laps on the intermediate tyre and struggled to warm them up and keep the temperature in them. We have to look into it as it's a little unusual. It's a shame we didn't show our pace during qualifying yesterday, but I'm happy we tried really hard today and were able to show a little more performance in the race."
Guillaume Dezoteux (Head of Vehicle Performance): "The weather played a huge part today, and it's been a big challenge for all of us to cope with the constant changes. Both drivers started on the soft compound but were immediately called in to change to the intermediate tyres when the first shower hit the track. It was the right call and allowed us to jump some cars. When the track started to improve, we went back to the soft tyres, and Yuki was able to maintain position compared to the fast-coming cars who stayed on dry tyres during this first wet period. After the Safety Car, he was in a good position, so we took the gamble to leave him out. It was not the right decision because he started to lose time and positions, due to the old tyres. Yuki eventually managed to hold on until the next rain came, which caused a red flag as the track was far too wet to carry on. The last laps on the intermediate tyre were difficult, resulting from poor warm-up and low grip conditions. Yuki finished P16, after serving a 5-second penalty due to a collision with Russell.
"As for Liam, he did a very good job today, learning about the car and adapting to the conditions, which were constantly evolving. He made no mistakes and was able to build up the pace on dry tyres, which he was driving on for the first time in our car. Overall, it was a difficult weekend. We will review the various decisions made and analyse the data to improve the cars and the decision-making process in such circumstances. Now it's time to prepare for next week's race in Monza, which will hopefully be dry!"
Check out our Sunday gallery from Zandvoort here.