With the RB enjoying fresh upgrades introduced in Austin, Lawson’s pace could have seen him cross the line in the top 10, but a similar battle with the Williams of Franco Colapinto left him struggling in the latter stages of the race.
He spent a significant chunk of time in traffic before contact in the duel with the Argentine saw him pick up front wing damage that forced another pit stop, leading to him finishing just ahead of Perez in P16.
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Reflecting on the result, he said: “Very disappointing, especially when we had a package that was strong this weekend. Obviously a tough race – we tried the strategy that worked last week and it just didn’t work today.
“We needed that clean air and unfortunately we spent the whole race just behind the gearbox of another car so it’s just frustrating.”
