New Zealand Formula 1 driver Liam Lawson has been unable to make much of an impression at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
The 21-year-old VCARB driver finished 16th in the 50-lap race on Saturday night (Sunday NZ Time) on the streets of Sin City, only briefly sitting in 10th on two occasions, as his car struggled to keep up.
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Lawson started 14th on the grid and picked up one spot on the opening lap after dueling with Haas' Kevin Magnusson.
With almost the entire field opting for a two-stop strategy, Lawson was one of the early cars to dive into pit lane on lap 11, getting on hard tyres. He initially dropped back to 19th before getting back to 13th after the first cycle.
With his RB teammate Yuki Tsunoda in the top-10, Lawson was one of latter drivers in for his second stop on lap 38. He rose as high as 10th as drivers ahead pitted but lost several positions on older tyres before coming in.
After emerging in 18th following his second stop, he picked up two spots in the closing laps but finished more than 90 seconds behind the winner, Mercedes' George Russell. Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who finished fifth, clinched his fourth straight F1 title.
Lawson was off the pace all weekend in Las Vegas. He was 20th, 15th and 18th during the three practice sessions, then qualified 15th.
For Lawson, who is potentially chasing a seat alongside Verstappen with Red Bull's top team, just two races remain in the F1 season to impress - the Qatar Grand Prix next weekend and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on December 8.