Liam Lawson is hoping rain will open up some opportunities, despite a starting place at the back of the pack, at the Melbourne Grand Prix on Sunday. Photo: Supplied/ Red Bull Racing
If there's any hope to be had after a disastrous qualifying effort, Liam Lawson only has to look to the skies.
Lawson starts Sunday's Melbourne Grand Prix - his first with Red Bull - in lowly 18th place after he slid off the track during his final push lap in qualifying.
It's far from the performance expected of him, with team mate and four-time reigning world champion Max Verstappen on the second row of the grid, starting in third.
In the words of former world champion Damon Hill, Lawson's weekend was "compromised" when he failed to complete a lap in his third practice session, due to a mechanical issue.
Up until then, Lawson had been showing good improvement in learning the track, and changes Red Bull made overnight seemed to vastly improve Verstappen's car.
Lawson wasn't able to acclimatise himself to the changes.
But all is not lost.
Saturday may have been substandard, but Sunday offers more hope than you might imagine.
Showers have been steadily falling all Sunday morning in Melbourne, and the rain is only expected to increase as the race draws near.
Albert Park is already a slippery track for these F1 drivers, so adding water to the mix could cause carnage.
And that throws up welcome opportunities for those further down the grid.
Lawson will hope to make good gains through the field and run as long as he can to take advantage of any yellow or red flags, which seem inevitable given the conditions.
"It's not like this car's way harder to drive, and that's why I made mistakes," Lawson said to media after qualifying.
"It's a tough track, lack of driving and then being stupid.
"I would love some rain. It's hard to overtake, so where we're starting, if it's dry, it's going to be pretty hard. Rain would be nice."
Well, rain you shall receive. Up to 20mm is expected to fall throughout the day.
It's only a question of how Lawson might take advantage of that precipitation.
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