Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda both impressed when they made substitute appearances at Zandvoort, particularly given the last-minute nature of the decision for Isack Hadjar to step aside.<\/p>\n
It was a hugely important weekend for Tsunoda<\/a> in particular, putting him back on the paddock\u2019s radar. Lawson<\/a>, meanwhile, is by no means guaranteed a race seat for 2027, with Nikola Tsolov waiting in the wings, and showing what he could do in a Red Bull<\/a> strengthened his hand.<\/p>\n It was natural to assume that, given a second chance in Italy<\/a> and a little more preparation, they would take another step forward. However, Monza has proved difficult for both so far and delivered something of a reality check.<\/p>\n Although it was not initially known to the wider world, Lawson came into the weekend knowing he’d have one hand tied behind his back after Red Bull decided to change power unit elements that would send him to the back of the grid.<\/p>\n That naturally meant a strong focus on race preparation in practice, but he still had the opportunity to earn a good position in Qualifying. Crucially, he was also tasked with giving team mate Max Verstappen<\/a> a tow, a job Isack Hadjar<\/a> performed so well at Spa<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the end, Lawson did not complete his mission, managing only P13 in Q2 and failing to progress to Q3. It was a scrappy session for the New Zealander, made worse when Oscar Piastri<\/a> impeded him at the start of his final run.<\/p>\n \u201cIt just wasn’t ideal,\u201d Lawson said. \u201cWe obviously left it to the end there to try and put a lap together. Tyres were pretty hot after just one cool, and then yeah, obviously not ideal getting blocked at Turn 1.<\/p>\n \u201cI just spent the whole quali in clean air until that last lap, that was the first time I’d sat behind a car. So trying to do it for the first time was not ideal. But I think obviously having Oscar in Turn 1 probably hurt more than anything.\u201d<\/p>\n He made his feelings clear on team radio about how things had unfolded.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, we just had a plan, and in some ways, we didn’t really follow it exactly,\u201d he said. \u201cSo for me, I just felt at times I didn’t really know what I was doing. But obviously, for us this weekend quali wasn’t really important for us.”<\/p>\n