Kiwi Formula 1 driver Liam Lawson says he is "pretty happy" with his seventh-place finish at the Chinese Grand Prix, capping off a strong weekend with points across both races.
The Racing Bulls driver qualified 14th on the grid and looked to be out of points scoring contention when poorly timed safety car came out just after he had pitted, dropping him down the order.
Despite the setback, the 24-year-old charged through the field to finish seventh, matching his result in the earlier sprint race and securing eight points for the team across the weekend.
Speaking after the race, Lawson said the result exceeded expectations.
“I don’t think we really expected it, to be honest,” the Kiwi said.
“The safety car was the worst timed safety car ever. We had just boxed and come back out, so I thought the race was pretty much over.”
Lawson praised the pace of his VCARB-03 but said it still lacked the outright speed needed to challenge some of the cars ahead.
“We just need a bit more speed. Strategy-wise we did everything right this weekend,” he said.
“For us to come home with P7 is really good.”
The result lifts Lawson to ninth in the drivers’ championship standings on eight points — level with four-time world champion Max Verstappen and ahead of his rookie teammate Arvid Lindblad.
Mercedes teenager Kimi Antonelli claimed his maiden Formula 1 victory in Shanghai, crossing the line ahead of teammate George Russell in second. Lewis Hamilton completed the podium in third, earning his first top-three finish for Ferrari.
'Fundamentally flawed'
Formula 1’s controversial new regulation era cars are continuing to draw criticism from several drivers, including Verstappen and reigning world champion Lando Norris.
The 2026 regulations introduced a power-unit formula that splits output evenly between combustion and electrical power, placing greater emphasis on energy harvesting and battery deployment during races.
The new era has already been plagued by reliability issues and technical difficulties. Four drivers failed to start the Chinese Grand Prix, while three more retired mid-race due to various mechanical problems.
Verstappen did not hold back after retiring from China's race with a power-unit failure, describing the regulations as "fundamentally flawed”.
“It’s not about being upset at where I am, because I’m actually fighting even more now,” the 71-time race winner said.
“I would say the same if I was winning races, because I care about the racing product. For me, it’s a joke.”
Earlier in the week, Verstappen joked he had been “practising with Mario Kart” to prepare for the new cars. He also warned the sport not to prioritise attracting new audiences at the expense of traditional racing.
“I hope they don’t think like that, because it will eventually ruin the sport. It will come and bite them back in the ass,” he said.
McLaren's Norris echoed similar concerns, saying the cars required a dramatically different driving style compared with previous generations.
“I think for the first time in our lives basically it’s forget everything you’ve learned in F4, F3, F2 and drive it in a completely different way,” he said.
"It's just not what any of us have ever grown up doing. Probably not something any of us grew up wanting to do either, but that's the way it is now."
Both Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri failed to start the Chinese Grand Prix due to separate mechanical issues.
Formula 1 now heads to the Japanese Grand Prix next weekend at the Suzuka Circuit.
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