Friday’s running was smooth for both Lawson and his new teammate, Isack Hadjar, as they finished FP2 in fifth and third, respectively. That session had seen a tailwind into turn 1 which, when it switched into Saturday’s sessions, led to a struggle with the VCARB02’s balance, yet seemingly only on Lawson’s side.

“It’s been a tricky day, especially after yesterday we had pretty good pace, and good balance”, he said. “Somewhere along the way, I think with the wind change, we struggled more.”

He was able to finish ahead of Yuki Tsunoda after the pair switched seats between the Chinese and Japanese Grands Prix, and will line up P13 on the grid after Carlos Sainz’s three-place grid drop penalty. This will be of little significance to Lawson however, who seems to be more focused on delivering a performance that demonstrates the true pace of the VCARB02.

“It’s a shame because the potential of the car has been very very good this weekend, I felt really good in the car but for whatever reason it got away from us at the end of Q2.

“I think we had a competitive car yesterday and a good Q1. We were trying to chase the balance through quali, and it got to a point in Q2 where to be honest we couldn’t really tune it much more.

“Unfortunately, we just sort of hit a wall a bit and struggled in that run. Honestly, it felt like a good lap, so it’s something we’ll obviously review. That’s it.”

However, the elements could offer Lawson a chance to recover with a thunderstorm advisory and 58% chance of rain covering Sunday afternoon in Suzuka. He feels this will be a “challenge for everybody” but offers a key opportunity for him to “try and move forward.”

The resurfaced section of the track will also throw up uncertainties, with Lawson reckoning that it will “hold a bit more water” and be “different to drive” again.

“Let’s see what happens, I’m sure it’ll be an eventful race.”