F1 | GP Austin – Yuki Tsunoda criticizes Liam Lawson after qualifying: “He always does this on purpose”. Yuki Tsunoda accuses Liam Lawson of intentionally blocking him during Austin qualifying.

Yuki Tsunoda had a challenging weekend in Austin, finishing 13th in qualifying and criticizing Liam Lawson for allegedly blocking him intentionally. Despite his difficulties, Tsunoda showed strong pace in the Sprint race, recovering from 18th on the grid to finish seventh.

A tough weekend from the start

Friday was already challenging for the Japanese driver, who ended FP1 in 13th and was eliminated in SQ1 during the Sprint qualifying due to a team timing error. Starting 18th for the Sprint, Tsunoda demonstrated consistent speed and racecraft by moving up through the field. However, in the main qualifying session, he struggled more, posting a 1:33.466 that left him 13th and eliminated in Q2. While his qualifying form continues to be an issue, the Sprint showed that he can fight back during races. The alleged interference from Lawson further fueled his frustration, but Tsunoda remains focused on delivering a strong performance to meet team and Helmut Marko’s expectations.

Yuki Tsunoda’s accusations

When asked about the incident with Lawson on his final qualifying lap, Yuki Tsunoda did not hold back. “Yes, with Lawson it’s always the same story. He always does these things on purpose, and then situations like this happen. Yes, it’s him. I don’t care about him anymore,” the visibly upset Japanese driver stated.

He added, “Honestly, it felt like he literally got in my way at the hairpin. I’m not sure what happened there—maybe a communication issue on their side. But yes, it seemed like he came out at the last second, and I lost a lot of time on the lap.”

“I think without that I could have made it to Q3. So far, I haven’t had a normal qualifying session. It’s really frustrating, but it is what it is,” Yuki Tsunoda continued.

Working on performance

The 25-year-old is actively working on improving his qualifying performance. Before encountering traffic, he felt positive about his pace at COTA. “Yes, I think I’m improving. On the last lap, the car and everything else gave me a fairly positive feeling. It’s just a shame about what happened on that final lap,” he explained.

He concluded, “I think the lack of flying laps yesterday in practice made it difficult to fully recover in time for the last lap. But I felt good on track until I ran into traffic.”