Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson in awkward attempt to defuse spat

Yuki Tsunoda has apologised for the “very unnecessary” comments he made about Liam Lawson over the United States Grand Prix weekend. 

Former Racing Bulls teammates Tsunoda and Lawson got into something of a war of words in Austin after the Red Bull driver accused his rival of holding him up in both qualifying sessions.

First, Tsunoda claimed Lawson is always doing “some s**t” on purpose, having been irritated by the Kiwi’s defence on their respective outlaps at the end of SQ1 in Friday’s sprint qualifying.

He then alleged that Lawson had interfered with his first run in Q2 during grand prix qualifying on Saturday.

Tsunoda and Lawson also clashed at the Italian Grand Prix and swapped seats when the latter was demoted by Red Bull after just two races in 2025.

The pair were sat alongside each other in Thursday’s press conference ahead of this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix, leading to a slightly toe-curling encounter.

Asked if they had spoken since the events of Austin to put the matter behind them, Tsunoda replied: “I don’t think we have spoken in person.

“Apologies to the team, to VCARB. What I said, especially to the media was very unnecessary. Yeah, that’s it.”

Lawson simply stated: “I don’t really know what happened in Austin to be honest.

“It’s an intense part of the season so for sure, obviously, each weekend is going to be tough.

“It’s just incredibly close this year. Each session, qualifying, we’re trying to extract everything. It’s little things that make a difference.”

Tsunoda and Lawson face uncertain futures

Both drivers face uncertain futures in F1 as Red Bull close in on finalising their four seats for 2026.

Tsunoda is widely expected to be replaced by Isack Hadjar, while Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad could be in line for a promotion into one of the Racing Bulls seats.

Such a scenario would leave Tsunoda and Lawson in a head-to-head shootout for the final spot at Racing Bulls.

"I think hindsight's amazing. You always look back on stuff that you've done and you always learn from things,” Lawson replied when questioned on whether he felt he had done enough to retain his seat.

"We're not perfect, I'm definitely not perfect. And for sure there's things over a season that I'll look back on and learn from mainly. But I think that's the main thing, as long as looking back on those mistakes or things that I learn from them and try and not do them again, that's the most important thing.

"So I think from that side, yes, I feel like I've done everything that I can and I'll continue doing that."

Asked the same question, Tsunoda responded: “I’m confident in what I’ve done and the situation I’m in.

“Obviously try to give it my best as much as possible to improve myself and score points. I just keep doing what I’m doing and it’s up to them, really, what kind of team line-up they want.

“I think I’ve improved a lot of things and I will keep on improving myself.”