Liam Lawson was pleased with points result upon F1 return in US GP as he and Fernando Alonso move on, while Yuki Tsunoda adds on the radio message.
Having replaced Daniel Ricciardo, Visa Cash App RB’s Lawson made the perfect F1 return in US GP at the Circuit of the Americas. Despite the grid drop, the Kiwi fought back from 19th to end up ninth in the order to register crucial two points in their fight against Haas.
Even though they lost sixth, the points will still matter in the long run. Looking at the race, the hard tyre strategy worked well considering low degradation and anyone who extended his first stint, ended up being in a better position. That caught out Tsunoda, who was left questioning his team after the Kiwi pitted to come out in front of him.
In that period of discussion on the radio, he had a spin to drop back from the fight for the last point. “It was a good start, but we just followed probably too long the other cars,” said Tsunoda to media. “The drivers who started behind, extended their stints especially Hulkenberg, who managed to do that.
“We didn’t communicate well between our engineers and myself, questions about tyres and everything, I got told I had to pit, so I just went. To be honest, it is something to look at, it shouldn’t happen and yes, the spin, my mistake was also there. In that moment, it shouldn’t have happened.
“Regarding the radio call, I mean, I was P7-P8 and he was starting P15, if I spin in the middle of the race – before the spin – I understand I am behind him, I don’t understand being behind and him rejoining ahead of me [when he did]. I mean, this race, definitely the drivers who extended their first stint were rewarded.
“It is hard to expect, that’s that and also there was my mistake as well.” For Lawson, it was the energy he needed for the remainder of 2024 season to grab a potential Red Bull chance in 2025. “The first lap was good, there was obviously carnage at Turn 1, and I was just in a good place and managed to get around it,” he said.
“From there, I just settled in, the hard tyre worked really well, there was a big step from the car from sprint, which is hard to do in a weekend. From where you start, it is really difficult to make a step like that, I think we did that because of how hard the guys worked with the car, so yeah, very happy.
“It is definitely important [to score], obviously it is more so what I am here to do, I have got the goal of staying in Formula 1 and this race is very important. It is doing exactly what I am here to do, there are many more important races to come,” summed up Lawson, who had praise from Red Bull boss Christian Horner too.
“Yeah, look, I think if you’re getting into a spat and getting your elbows out with Fernando on your first race back in, you’re doing all right,” said Horner. “And I think that he drove an exceptional race today from 19th to 9th. He was fast. He was courageous. And I thought it was an excellent, you know, comeback for him.”
As Horner noted, after the sprint run-in, both Lawson and Aston Martin’s Alonso found each other again on track in the main race. It was early in the grand prix and this time, they did not go hard at each other despite couple of position changes between the two. For Lawson, it was all about learning from the F1 world champion.
“It was actually nice in the race, I expected him to fight me a little bit more but it was good,” said Lawson. “I think it was smart from both of us for that part of the race, it was very early on, and the hard tyre was working quite well for us. Obviously, he is much more experienced than I am, there’s obviously things that you can learn from him, so happy with the race.
“Being a kid watching him on my TV, when I was racing go-karts and obviously, he is someone that I have huge amount of respect for in Formula 1. Yeah, it is good to learn from him. [And no], not today [I haven’t spoken to him], I don’t know if he wants to talk to me but maybe I will,” summed up Lawson.
Alonso, meanwhile, was chill about the scene as he was more focused about the low scoring results than a spat with another driver. “I think we started unrealistically, we were too much in front,” he said. “I think if you are in your natural position, it is more a lonely race, but we started P8 and we knew that P8 was not our position, so yeah, we fall back to P13-P14 quickly.
“Of course, all good [with Lawson], nothing to say [after another fight in the race] as I said, everyone is racing differently. I think in the sprint, there were couple of occasions that in my opinion was too aggressive and his opinion, it wasn’t. This is motorsport,” summed up Alonso.
Here’s what was said by them after sprint
Here’s how F1 US GP panned out
Here’s how F1 US GP sprint panned out
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