Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson believes his new car showed it has "great potential" at the Japanese Grand Prix as he looks to build on his first race with the team.
Lawson was dropped by Red Bull after just two events this season, swapping seats with Yuki Tsunoda ahead of last weekend's race at Suzuka.
While the New Zealander failed to reach the points on his first outing in the sister car, rookie teammate Isack Hadjar put in a stellar performance to take a first top 10 of his career.
Ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend and a return to a more familiar track layout for both drivers, Lawson said: “Very excited for Bahrain, it’s an night race which is cool, I love a night race.
"Having Japan now under my belt in the VCARB, I’m looking forward to going straight into having another opportunity to get to grips with the car.
"We could see from last week that it’s got great potential, so I'm excited to start getting the most of out of it."
New challenge in Bahrain
While the climate at the first three races has seen cooler temperatures and the threat of rain, Bahrain will bring the heat and provide a different test for the 10 teams on the grid.
"It’s looking like it’s going to be very very hot, especially this year, but being a night race, it brings different conditions," said
"It’s an iconic track which is normally very hard on the tyres but it’s also a track that the team have tested at, so hopefully we can put everything learned from testing into the car this weekend.“
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