Mekies shares his initial thoughts on Lawson's return to RB F1

Laurent Mekies commends Lawson’s performance while highlighting RB’s need for upgrades to defend their sixth-place standing.

This weekend’s Grand Prix in Austin marked the return of Liam Lawson to RB F1, stepping in for Daniel Ricciardo, who was sidelined earlier this year.

But did Laurent Mekies, the French team principal of VCARB, find Lawson’s early laps on his return convincing? While the New Zealander couldn’t outqualify Yuki Tsunoda in the sprint session, he may not have been running a qualifying setup, especially given his start at the back of the grid on Sunday for the Grand Prix.

“Yes, he did a very good job,” Mekies said of Lawson.
“He’s been waiting for this moment for a long time, so he was smiling all morning, and I think he was sat in the car 20 minutes before the first session even started. He was clearly very motivated and handled every session very smoothly.”

“We got those refreshing, typical comments from drivers on their first day when they complain about having too much grip. It usually doesn’t last long, but he was immediately on pace, close to Yuki. It’s a tough track, and he’s never driven here before, so it was a great way to kick off the weekend.”

Making a comeback during a sprint weekend, combined with heavy grid penalties, is far from ideal. Mekies agreed but believes the penalties may actually relieve some pressure for Lawson in this Grand Prix.

“The sprint format, on its own, makes it very, very challenging for a first race, especially for a young driver, if I may call him that. What helps, fortunately for him, is that we have a power unit penalty. So, naturally, the pressure for qualifying is reduced.”

“In reality, this means that both we and he can use the weekend to settle in and build confidence. We know it will be extremely tough to score points starting from the back on Sunday, so he can focus on understanding everything with his engineers, gaining confidence, and, hopefully, being ready for Mexico.”

“You know, he’s got the pace. The speed is there, but we believe, and I’m sure my colleagues would agree, in the development and improvement of drivers, not just in their off-track skills but in their pure pace in the car. So all he needs to do is stay calm in the cockpit, build his skills, and let the speed combine with his confidence race by race. If we see that, it means he and Yuki will push each other very hard. And that’s exactly what we want to see. It’s exactly what we need for the future.”

RB F1 will not hold onto 6th place without effective upgrades.

Laurent Mekies will indeed need two strong drivers to fend off the resurgence of Haas F1 and Williams F1 in the Constructors’ Championship.

Can RB F1 maintain its 6th place? How has the team from Faenza fallen behind in the development race?

“You have to give credit to Haas and Williams. I think they’re both quicker than us at the moment. This stems from the development struggles we encountered mid-season. It took us time to digest those issues, understand them, and finally start addressing them. Here in Austin, we are slower than those guys, so we’re defending our position. It’s impressive how many updates almost the entire grid brought to Austin, so it’s like a six-round duel for all of us.”

“So, you know, we don’t think we’ll be able to defend 6th place in the Constructors’ Championship if we continue with a slower car than theirs over the next six races. We’re hopeful that with the upgrades we’ve introduced here, and a few more adjustments to come, we’ll have enough raw pace to stay in the fight.”