Tsunoda accuses Lawson of ‘always doing something on purpose’ after US GP Qualifying incident

Yuki Tsunoda has hit out at Liam Lawson for “always doing something on purpose” after complaining of being blocked by the Racing Bulls driver in Qualifying for the United States Grand Prix.

Tsunoda and Lawson have been involved in a number of skirmishes this season, after Red Bull switched the pair after two weekends, promoting the former to partner Max Verstappen ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend while the latter dropped back down to the junior squad alongside Isack Hadjar.

Their previous flashpoints included an earlier incident this weekend in Sprint Qualifying, when the two battled through the first corners in a failed bid to set a last-gasp time.

Added tension exists with speculation that the two are battling for a single seat on the 2026 grid, with rumours that Isack Hadjar will join Red Bull and Formula 2 driver Arvid Lindblad could make the step up to F1 with Racing Bulls.

“With Lawson, it’s just the usual story,” said Tsunoda when asked about the potential on-track blocking incident involving the New Zealander.

“He’s always doing something on purpose, and it’s b*******, so it’s him. I don’t care about him, to be honest."

Tsunoda, who will start the United States Grand Prix in 13th – one place behind Lawson – was further irked by blocking from one of the Alpine drivers, although he brushed this off as “maybe just miscommunication from their side”.

He added: “I think, without that, I would have been in Q3. So far, I just can’t have normal Qualifying. It’s really frustrating but it is what it is.”

On the other side of the fence, Lawson was left bemused by his rival’s comments when asked.

“I’ve absolutely no idea what he’s talking about,” he said. “I think traffic is always a little bit tough around here, to be honest. But this weekend it has been something that we’ve all been dealing with. We got hit real bad yesterday in sector one.

“I can’t possibly think where I could have been to be in front of him, but it’s just one of those things.”

Racing Bulls have shown strong pace across the weekend so far, but a heavy crash for Hadjar in Q1 and Lawson’s Q2 exit leaves plenty of work to be done on Sunday if the team is to add to its points haul.

Of his final effort, Lawson added: “We had a very fast car, we just got hit by a massive gust of wind at the start of the lap and then, from there, you’re trying to make up lap time.

“It sucks. The car has been very, very quick. Unfortunately, it’s just one of those things. We’re all dealing with it, but we get hit at different points and unfortunately, it’s cost us quite a lot of lap time.”