Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda respond to Max Verstappen’s F1 2026 claim

Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda have responded to Max Verstappen’s claim that Formula 1’s 2026 cars have made driver input less important. 

Four-time world champion Verstappen said he believes F1’s much-maligned new power units have taken so much away from the driving challenge that it has become easier to perform at a higher level. 

Verstappen cited Lawson and Tsunoda’s performances as respective stand-ins at Red Bull and Racing Bulls to illustrate his point.

“In the history of the sport, normally the driver that is the most committed, the latest on the brakes, earlier on throttle, committing in the high-speed [corners], they get rewarded, because you just gain that time in the corner,” the Dutchman told the BBC. 

“But now you're constantly thinking about, ‘In this corner I might have to hold in a bit. Go later on throttle. Or brake earlier. Or lift off. And then I have more top speed.’ Stuff like that. It's so unnatural. It's so not how it should be.

"No disrespect, and I hope no one picks up on this, but look at Yuki. He jumps in the car.

"Never driven the car before. Immediately competitive. Liam jumps from the Racing Bulls to the Red Bull – immediately competitive. It's because these cars are numb to your driver inputs.

Asked about Verstappen’s comments, Lawson replied: “It's something that the cars in general, they're not simpler, because they're actually quite complicated in the way that the energy is. 

“But sometimes I can understand, I feel like there's things that are maybe less in our control with the way the energy is. 

“But I think at the same time, myself and Yuki that have jumped in these cars, we're really the only ones that know what it's like to try and get up to speed in a new car.”

Lawson continued: “The gaps between teams are a bit bigger this year in some ways - they haven't really been that big recently, it's been pretty tight - but you can look at it like that and say, "Okay, maybe they're a little bit more simple to get up to speed." 

“But there's many things that I have personally in my own car that are something that I've got used to over the last year and a half that I've, basically liked, that I can't just go and apply in a car like this. 

"There's things that I’ve haven't been very comfortable with in the last few races that I've been trying to almost drive around. And those are things that are not just simple on paper that you would see, but just a personal driver thing that everybody has things in their own car that they're comfortable with. 

“I think as much as maybe all the cars are okay to jump in and drive, and maybe they're reasonably simple to be up to speed, it's that kind of stuff that I've been trying to get my head around the last couple of weeks that are different to my car.” 

Tsunoda also shrugged off former team-mate's  comments. 

“It's his comments, so... I don't know. I really just read it, to be honest. That's it,” said the Japanese driver, who scored a point last time out at Monza. 

“It's a different car, for sure. Obviously, energy deployments and stuff is different. It's obviously part of things that you can't really push flat out in some corners. Something I experienced in Monza.

“But, yeah, that's it. I'm not really taking anything from his comments and compare to my results, what I showed in two races, it's a very individual thing, I think. So, I think I've done a good job and that's it.”