RB F1 showed impressive race pace at the United States Grand Prix. Liam Lawson moved up from 19th to ninth place while Yuki Tsunoda was less fortunate but also showed good performances. Jody Egginton, the team’s technical director, praises the work done to find good settings.
“We took a big step forward with the cars in qualifying and the race pace shown validated that these set-up changes also resulted in a much better race car compared to the sprint race, with an improvement notable pace and tire consumption in the race” indicates the engineer.
“With Liam starting at the back due to the engine penalty, the plan was to aim for a long first stint on the hard tyres. However, the pace at which he was able to ride throughout the stint was very strong, allowing him to overtake a few cars on track and come back even more than expected. He was rewarded with points in his first race back with us, which is a credit to him and a reward for the team for all the hard work put in. in Austin and also in Faenza and Bicester during the last period.”
“Yuki’s race was more conventional, starting on the medium tires like the majority of the riders. At first he was riding solidly towards the front of the pack, but with his pace starting to drop a bit and some pressure coming from behind. “At the back, we were forced to potentially stop a little earlier than we would have liked.”
“This, combined with the management of the hard tires, caused him to lose some ground in the middle of the race. While he pushed harder afterwards, he unfortunately received a 5-second penalty for overtaking Alex ( Albon) and also spun while trying to overtake Pierre (Gasly), so he was not in the fight for the last points-scoring position at the end of the race.”
“Looking at the weekend as a whole, it’s good to have got the expected performance from the new floor here and it’s good to score points. However, Haas F1 is also putting in a good performance, but There are five races left, so we need to focus on extracting the most from the latest developments in the car and also on having good weekends to achieve our goals for the season.”
An “excellent return” for Lawson
Laurent Mekies (left in the photo), the Faenza team manager, obviously welcomed Lawson’s impressive return after a year on the sidelines, with two deserved points: “We can be pleased with our team’s performance in Austin, with an excellent ninth place for Liam on his return, thanks to a very well executed race from last on the grid.
“He did a great job all weekend, especially considering he hasn’t raced since October last year. He was well prepared, having spent the whole season with us, working with the team at the factory and at the Grands Prix, so he was pretty much ready for this weekend from the start.”
“Yuki’s pace was also solid all weekend, he started the Sprint from ninth place and the race from tenth. In the race, after a good first stint on mediums, he didn’t have much free air in the second hard relay and had to stay behind Gasly before a spin set him back even further.”
“Austin marked the start of an intense six-race battle to decide championship positions, and not just at the front of the field. With Haas finishing ahead of us, they have now overtaken us for sixth, but we We’ve seen the hierarchy change very often this season.”
RB F1 continues to fight and work hard to regain sixth place from Haas: “Like most teams, we brought new things and we are satisfied with their performance.”
“We think there is still room to make the most of them and we need to get the most out of this package in the remaining five races. Everyone at Faenza and Bicester is focused on that and we expect a superb fight until the end.”
