Racing Bulls keep Lawson out of Q3 to secure Lindblad’s higher qualifying spot

Racing Bulls kept Liam Lawson in the garage for Q3 during Saturday’s United States Grand Prix qualifying in Austin, so Arvid Lindblad could secure the higher qualifying position before his five-place grid penalty. Lawson said he asked to go out and was frustrated when the team refused, although he understood the calculation.

Both Racing Bulls drivers made Q3. The eight cars from the four top teams occupied the places ahead of them, with no Audi or Alpine in the final session, leaving the pair likely to finish ninth and tenth. Lindblad had entered the weekend facing a five-place drop for taking a new internal combustion engine; his higher Q3 position would convert to P14 on the final grid. Lawson was classified P10 without a Q3 time and will start one place ahead of Lindblad after the penalty.

Lawson said he would have liked a Q3 run and noted that they had two sets of tyres available. In a normal fight with Alpine or Audi, he said, those tyres could have been useful; with Lindblad’s penalty and their likely ninth-and-tenth Q3 positions, he accepted there was little to gain. He added that the team now had plenty of tyres for Sunday.

Lindblad also made only one Q3 run, despite having tyres for another attempt. He thought a second run might have made both cars half a second or six-tenths quicker, but would not change their positions. He was pleased to finish Q2 ahead of Lawson after being eight or nine tenths slower on his first Q1 run, he said.

Lawson will start immediately ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in the fight for fifth in the constructors’ championship.