Kiwi F1 driver Liam Lawson will take the twelfth-place starting spot on the grid on Monday morning's (NZ time) Canadian Grand Prix, but believes he could've qualified higher.
The 24-year-old had to play catch-up after mechanical issues during free practice.
He narrowly missed out on a top-10 finish in the sprint race on Sunday after making seven passes from the back of the grid over the 23 laps to finish eleventh.
"The car is really fast this weekend, so it’s a shame to not put both cars in Q3. I was still trying to catch up after yesterday and it was more difficult than expected," he said.
Teammate Arvid Lindblad finished eighth in the sprint, qualifying ninth fastest for the Grand Prix.
"At the start of Qualifying, I struggled a bit with the warm-up on the soft tyre. I also had some front locking and it meant that I ended up putting a lot of pressure on myself during the last push lap to try and get through."
Lawson's Racing Bulls vehicle completed only five laps on the course during Saturday's practice session before a hydraulic leak forced him off the tarmac.
The team were unable to fix the issue in time for Lawson to attend both the remaining free practice and sprint qualifying – sending him to the back of the grid for Sunday's sprint race.
Racing Bulls' technical director Dan Fallows praised Lawson for the progress he did manage to make.
"Liam got to grips with the car quickly today and managed to gain six places, which is an impressive achievement in a Sprint Race."
"It was Liam's first outing of the weekend on the soft tyres, but he was immediately on the pace, missing out on Q3 by only half a tenth."
Lawson said forecasted rain for Monday's race would make it an interesting one.
"Let’s see what happens tomorrow; we have a quick car on the dry, but I also wouldn’t mind having some rain, considering where we start.
"These cars are hard to drive in the wet, so if it rains as expected, it will be an interesting race."
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