Quote:
Originally Posted by M5Rick
He's not quite in the last chance saloon so it's not over yet.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M5Rick
Aha now I know.
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It's not only about his subpar performance on track in the RBR car, it's also about resisting to make arrogant statements when getting baited by the press. Pretty iIl-advised to go dissing Tsunoda this race weekend. Or as someone commented:
"Talking smack about someone who’s handily beating you in an inferior car is not the way to go". Speak with results, not with arrogant words.
Published prior to Lawson's P20 in the GP qualies:
"Lawson: Tsunoda ‘had his time – I beat him in the junior series’
Racefans - 21 March 2025
https://www.racefans.net/2025/03/21/...junior-series/
Liam Lawson has rejected claims Red Bull made a mistake by promoting him instead of his 2024 team mate to their senior team this year.
He is competing in his second weekend for Red Bull after the team hired him to replace Sergio Perez at the end of last season.
Yuki Tsunoda, who was Lawson’s team mate at Red Bull’s second team when last season ended, was also in the running for the seat. Having already spent four years in F1, Tsunoda is significantly more experienced than Lawson, who had entered only 11 grands prix before this season began.
Lawson endured a difficult start at Red Bull, dropping out in Q1 at Melbourne, then crashing out of the race when he tried to stay on slick tyres during a shower. He qualified last for this weekend’s sprint race in Shanghai.
But Lawson insists he was the better choice for Red Bull and said he had no sympathy for Tsunoda being overlooked. “If I look back over our careers, I was team mates with him in F3 and I beat him,” he told The Telegraph. “In Euroformula I was team mates with him, [and] in New Zealand, and I beat him there.
“Then in F1 last season I think honestly, if I look at all the times he got promoted instead of me in those early years, then no. He’s had his time. Now it’s my time.”
Tsunoda and Lawson were team mates many times during their junior careers. Lawson out-scored Tsunoda in the 2019 Euroformula Open, where both drove for Motopark. The order was reversed in the FIA F3 series that year, though they drove for different teams.
They faced each other again in the New Zealand Toyota Racing Series the following year. Lawson narrowly failed to reclaim the title he won the year before while Tsunoda, making his debut in the series, finished fourth.
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown is among those who queried Red Bull’s decision to promote Lawson instead of Tsunoda. Lawson said he “couldn’t care less” about his opinion. “I think he’s still hurt because I talked about his national anthem,” he said.
However Lawson admitted he was impressed by Verstappen’s performance in Melbourne last week. “Just the way he gets up to speed and gets straight on it, you know?” he said. “There’s no delay, there’s no warm-up.”