Liam Lawson looks a shoe in for a full time Formula One drive in 2025, though as yet Dr. Helmut Marko merely admits to the New Zealander being “evaluated” alongside Yuki Tsunoda.
Having debuted in F1 for five race weekends last season for the injured Daniel Ricciardo, Lawson has been given the Australian’s seat at RB for the final six races of this year.
His first outing in COTA saw Liam persuade the team to allow him to employ a one stop strategy during the USGP which saw him finish ahead of his disgruntled team mate in P9. Tsunoda had been penalised for running Alex Albon off track, appeared furious over team radio when after his second stop the Japanese driver returned to the track but behind Lawson.
Tsunoda ‘red mist’ returns
Tsunoda: “Wait, what the f—-!? Tell me how this happened,” ranted Yuki, famed for his ‘red mist’ outbursts over team radio. Lawson’s P9 finish may yet prove vital in RB’s battle with Haas F1 which currently sits in favour of the American owned team by just two points.
Yuki was hit with a huge fine of €40,000 at this year’s Austrian GP – half of which was suspended – after making an ableist slur over team radio during qualifying while in the pit lane, which the FIA called “offensive and wholly inappropriate.”
“These guys are f***ing r*tarded” raged Tsunoda while his race engineer sought to calm him down unsuccessfully. The stewards accepted the RB driver’s explanation that he did not fully understand the phrase he used because English is not his native language.
Yet Tsunoda’s road rage has been a cause for concern for team boss Christian Horner and Dr. Helmut Marko who charged his young apprentice with learning from the cool head of Daniel Ricciardo earlier this year. Tsunoda admitted “Helmut [Marko], Christian [Horner] – wanted me to calm myself down a little bit and focus on feedback, and to be a more complete driver.”
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The Ricciardo influence now gone
Working alongside Ricciardo appeared to have the desired effect for most of the time, with Yuki admitting “Daniel [Ricciardo] came into the team, and Daniel is very, very good at those things, especially the feedback and radio communications.
“After I saw his radio communications, and obviously the target [from Marko and Horner] was aligned to what I saw in the team.”
Ricciardo is now gone and its to be seen whether the pressure cooker of competing against Lawson for the 2025 drive alongside Max Verstappen sees ‘old Yuki’ return along with the red mist.
This weekend in Mexico Tsunoda appeared to put the disappointment of COTA behind him and was third quickest in both Friday practice sessions before nailing a P7 in practice three. Qualifying too appeared to be going swimmingly until Yuki made a mistake during the second session of qualifying.
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Yuki costs RB top ten grid slot
Coming into the stadium section Yuki overcooked it on the brakes into turn 12 on his final Q2 lap and whilst the hit of the barrier appeared reasonably sedate, out came the red flag which in turn ended the session.
Both RB’s were on course to make it into Q3 before Tsunoda’s mistake but in the end came ups just short of Pierre Gasly’s 1m17.048 which constituted P10.
“It’s a shame obviously. We had a fast car all weekend,” said Liam Lawson after the session. “Obviously, Yuki’s been extremely strong in practice. We’ve been building up and I think we were right there in quali.
“I think the team’s worked extremely hard and given us a really fast car this weekend. So they deserve to have two cars, if not one, in Q3.”
Lawson using Tsunoda’s data
The New Zealander reveals he “was considerably up” on the time required to progress and with even “a normal sector two and three” Lawson believes he would have made the top ten shootout. The circuit at the Autodromo Romanos Rodriguez had been getting considerably quicker with each passing session and so drivers were electing to run as late’s possible for their final run in each session.
“Unfortunately that’s the risk sometimes when you run towards the back [of the pack] and if there is a flag that’s what happens. We did all the right things, we built up and by quali we were honestly on the limit. I feel confident we would have been able to go through,” a disappointed lawson explained.
The Mexico City track is not one Lawson has driven in an F1 car before, something he admitted when being awarded Ricciardo’s seat at RB. In fact he has not competed at any of the final six F1 venues in a car with the power of his RB and Lawson reveals he has decided to trust his team mates experience and follow his car setup at the Autodromo.
“It’s been perfect; it’s good to have a fast team-mate and be able to use his data and that’s what we’ve been doing all weekend honestly,” he told assembled media in Mexico.
“It’s been useful, I think obviously having extra time this weekend has helped for sure. So yeah, just a shame we didn’t get to finish the lap. I feel for [the team] because they’ve worked really hard and this is a weekend where you don’t often have two cars that are very quick and capable of Q3.”
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Lawson to miss out on Red Bull test
Closest rivals Haas F1 managed to get both of their drivers into Q3 with Kevin Magnussen in P7, unusually ahead of his one lap specialist team mate, Nico Hulkenberg who will start just ahead of the RB pair in tenth spot. Lawson confirmed the long run pace of the RB has been good this weekend and hopes come the race on Sunday, both he and Yuki can run down the Haas duo and finish ahead in the final classified standings.
The good news for Yuki Tsunoda this week was that Christian Horner confirmed that finally after four years in the Red Bull F1 foamily, the Japanese driver will get to test the Red Bull car at the post-season test in Abu Dhabi.
“He will test the car again at [Abu Dhabi], following the conclusion of the season, something that has been agreed for quite some time,” Horner revealed in a press session in Mexico.
“It will be good to give him a run, and give him the opportunity to work with Red Bull Racing engineers, and see how he performs in a Red Bull Racing car.”
This will preclude Liam Lawson from taking part in the same test as the teams must field one driver with fewer than three Grand Prix outings. This would suggest Yuki is favourite to replace Perez alongside Max Verstappen, something Honda have been pushing for for some time.
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Norris/Verstappen clash in FIA confrontation over stewarding guidelines
The fallout from the 2024 Formula One USGP rumbles on in the Mexico paddock as drivers and the FIA meet to discuss the penalties issued in Austin, last time out. Whilst the decisions of the stewards did not affect the outcome for the race winner, it did embroil the two primary challengers for the drivers’ title this year.
Lap one, turn one… Max Verstappen found a way up the inside into turn one which saw him control Norris progress. With the Red Bull barreling into the apex of the turn, the McLaren driver had no choice but to avoid Verstappen by leaving the track on the outside of the turn.
This ultimately cost Norris the lead of the race to Charles Leclerc who made hay while the sun shone and disappeared down the track on his way to the chequered flag. Yet there was little surprise at the inaction of the stewards to Max’s muscling in on Lando, given there is a gentleman’s agreement in place that lap one incidents are part of the general chaos of starting a Grand Prix and so the stewards rarely get involved… READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
WTF has it got to do with Lady Hamilton? It’s about time he got down off his self-imposed pedestal he’s put himself on. He is a driver, he may bea previous WorldChmp but that does not m
make him a Marshall, a team boss or, in fact, a person̈ whose opinion is of importantance. In his pius state he expects us fans to forget his mistakes and misdemeanours and many a grand favour that was dished out to him and not others. It’s time he learned to mind his own business and get on with the job he’s amply rewarded for and is sadly failing at at the moment.