Formula One finally returned to the track for the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.
Lance showed the pace shown by the new RP20 from pre-season testing was genuine, as him and teammate Sergio Perez threatened the top of the timesheets throughout Free Practice.
In Qualifying, Lance made it into Q3, setting the 9th fastest time of the session with a 1:04.029s laptime.
Starting from P9, the Canadian had held onto his position throughout the opening laps of the race, looking set to move forward as he closed in on the leading group ahead.
Soon after in the opening stint of the race however, Lance's car began to suffer from technical gremlins - slowing his pace, before he was eventually forced to retire the car, after a loss power ended his race on Lap 20.
The team are investigating the issue ahead of the next race at the same venue next week.
Lance: “It was a good start to the race, but then I began to lose power early on. We tried to make some changes to various settings, but eventually we had to retire the car. We'll look into the problem and come back stronger next time.
The car felt good at first and I think our pace would have been strong. We could have scored a good amount of points today.”
Despite the opening round set-back, Lance get's another shot at the Red Bull Ring in just one weeks time for the Steiermark Grand Prix, again hosted at the Red Bull Ring for the first back-to-back race at the same circuit in Formula One history.