While Formula 1 drivers lined up to slam the mandatory two-stop rule after Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix, the strategy Racing Bulls executed to take advantage of the experiment delivered Liam Lawson a first real high of an otherwise miserable season.

Dumped by the senior Red Bull team after only two rounds, the New Zealander had a best finish of 12th in the five races since his demotion to Racing Bulls going into the glamour round of the championship in Monte Carlo.

On Sunday, Lawson initially acted as a shield in the first part of the race to allow teammate Isack Hadjar in front of him to make his two pit stops while suffering minimal damage to his track position.

After making his own second stop on the 40th of the 78 laps, Lawson picked up the pace and finished less than three seconds behind sixth-placed Hadjar to deliver his first points of the season in eighth, his best finish in 19 Formula 1 races.

“I’m very, very happy for everyone. It was a good race, very straightforward from our side. I’m very happy,” Lawson told reporters. “It’s not often you have a plan and you execute it perfectly. We were able to do that today. For our fight in the midfield, it’s very important.

“From my side, it’s great to get some points. We should have started higher from yesterday, but that’s on me.”

Lawson said it had been tricky in the early part of the race to drive slowly enough to hold up traffic and allow Hadjar to build up a lead while making sure not to run the risk of being overtaken.

“It’s actually really a lot more difficult than I expected from a concentration point of view but it’s something that from a team side made sense,” he added.

Lawson’s disappointment with qualifying in ninth place after showing good pace in the practice sessions at Monaco reflected his feeling that he had not quite banished his early season woes.

“It’s great to score points, but obviously I’m wanting to finish higher,” the 23-year-old said.

“It’s a good step that we made this weekend, but I think we’re always looking for more.”