But after an up-and-down campaign that yielded three wins in nine races but only one other visit to the podium, Lawson fell eight points shy of champion Ritomo Miyata in the end.
Here, we look back at the moments throughout the season where Lawson lost out - partly through a mixture of small mistakes either by him or the team, or just sheer bad luck.
The honeymoon of Lawson’s sensational debut win at Fuji didn’t last long, as the very next day he finished third behind Tomoki Nojiri and Sho Tsuboi, only to get penalised for a safety car infringement that dropped him down to fifth, a place behind Miyata.
Lawson suffered the misfortune of being the second Mugen car in line when the safety car was called on lap eight, just two laps before the pit window opened. This prompted the entire field to come into the pits in unison, but Lawson was picked up for trying to create a gap that would allow Mugen to service both he and Nojiri without losing time.
The punishment was a five-second time penalty that cost him five points (while gifting Miyata an extra two). Had Lawson followed the rules to the letter, he may have ended up giving away even more positions, but either way, this was simply dumb luck for the Kiwi.
VERDICT: Bad luck
The safety car again came out at the wrong time for Lawson two weeks later at Suzuka. The Red Bull junior was second behind Tsuboi when Nojiri rear-ended Toshiki Oyu to bring out the caution, resulting in Miyata, Ryo Hirakawa and others getting a cheap pitstop.
For the restart, Lawson was on old tyres and powerless to prevent Miyata from coming through for second, and the TOM’S driver would eventually pick off Tsuboi for a first win. Later, Lawson would concede another position to Impul man Hirakawa, slipping to fourth.
Lawson admitted after the race that he may have been a bit too conservative in his defence, especially against Hirakawa, but again, it’s hard to escape the conclusion that a badly-timed caution saw seven points go begging, as well as hugely benefitting Miyata.
VERDICT: Mostly bad luck
Source: Autosport