It was a disappointing return to Red Bull's junior team for the New Zealander after his controversial demotion from being four-time world champion Max Verstappen's partner in the main team for the first two Grand Prix of the season.
Verstappen won the race in Suzuka, controlling it from start to finish, with McLaren's Lando Norris (2nd) and Oscar Piastri (3rd) unable to mount a serious challenge in the closing laps.
Lawson, who started at 13 on the grid, was passed by the driver who succeeded him at Red Bull, Yuki Tsunoda, on the first lap and while he moved up into the top 10 when he continued on while others pitted, he dropped down to 17th on his return.
In a hectic finish at the back of the field, Lawson held that place, finishing 1.4 seconds behind 15th placed Jack Doohan and just behind Nico Hulkenberg, with Esteban Ocon and Gabriel Bortoleto, with Lance Stroll tailing the field.
Lawson didn't pit until the 34th lap and returned with soft tyres but was unable to make an impression on his return.
"We went really long and I guess tried something and it didn't really work," Lawson said after the race.
"It was a tough start anyway, lap one was pretty tricky.
"I think we will obviously learn from that."
He said it was hard to overtake on the tight Suzuka course.
"There's been positives to take from this weekend. In general, the car has been pretty good, obviously it takes some time to adjust and get used to it.
"It's been a pretty crazy few weeks and months, I just want to get into a groove and get racing. We get to go again next week with a new style of track, so we'll keep chipping away."
Racing Bulls head of performance Laurent Mekies said: "Liam was starting further back on the grid, so we tried to extend him to grab any opportunity. Unfortunately, nothing happened and he finished in P17 in a train of cars. This result rewards a competitive weekend straight from the outset on Friday and this is boosting all of us ahead of the next race in Bahrain."
He finished 1.4 seconds ahead of Norris.
Norris and Verstappen seemingly were in a dead heat as they exited a pitstop, but Norris couldn't get around Verstappen as they re-entered the track and wound up on the grass to the side of the track, Reuters reported.
McLaren complained to race stewards, saying Verstappen didn't leave him space, but they took no action.
"We didn't have enough today, nothing special to catch Max and he made no mistakes," Norris said.
"He squeezed me in the pitlane but he's the last guy you expect to give you any space - it's racing."
Verstappen was pleased with how he managed the pressure from the McLaren team.
"I was quite calm," the Dutchman said.
"I've been in this position before, but I just tried to focus on my own laps, trying to not make any mistakes."
"But we managed everything really well, and just very happy with this result," he added.
"And then of course with that pit lane thing, yeah, it was tight."
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was fourth, 16.1 seconds behind, followed by the Mercedes pair of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.
After three races, Norris has 62 points to 61 for Verstappen.
In the team race, McLaren has 111 points to 75 for Mercedes and 61 for Red Bull.
- RNZ Sport/Reuters
