Lawson surprised to find himself attacking Piastri on Singapore GP's opening lap

After passing Pierre Gasly at the start of the Singapore Grand Prix, Liam Lawson said he was surprised to find himself attacking Oscar Piastri on the opening lap. After the race, the Racing Bulls driver said he had not really wanted to attack the McLaren and had hoped the cars ahead would pull away instead.

Lawson started eighth on soft tyres from the dirty side of the grid; Gasly started seventh on mediums from the clean side. Lawson said the softs gave him plenty of grip. He passed Gasly through Turns 1, 2 and 3, then duelled with Piastri on the exit of Turn 3. Piastri stayed ahead, and the top six pulled away from Lawson.

Lawson said the field was bunching up in the first part of the race. He also described the Racing Bulls car as very strong in all conditions over the weekend.

Lawson finished seventh, best of the rest behind six cars from Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren. His six points from the Grand Prix, plus the four he scored in the Sprint, made 10 for the weekend. Racing Bulls reached 100 points in the constructors' standings and stood 32 points clear of Alpine in their battle for fifth.