Liam Lawson wasn’t thinking much about Yuki Tsunoda in his fight to finish fifth in F1 Azerbaijan GP, as Isack Hadjar pissed off by silly mistake.
Visa Cash App RB’s Lawson secured his best qualifying result of third to start the F1 Azerbaijan GP weekend. He held onto the position for long until George Russell pipped him in the pits and teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli got him on track. But that was the only blip he had.
He drained all his energy by Turn 1 which helped Antonelli to get by him. But he made sure to not repeat the mistake. He almost lost fifth to Red Bull’s Tsunoda when the Japanese driver pitted. His cold tyres helped Lawson to re-pass him quickly and that was the last of it.
Despite attempts from Tsunoda, Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, there was no going through the Kiwi, who registered his best result of fifth. He wanted the podium – considering that Williams and Carlos Sainz did – but eventually did not have the legs for that.
“I don’t think we had the speed to finish on the podium, as much as I would have loved it, and when you start P3, obviously, part of you tries to make it feel like it is possible,” said Lawson to media. “We tried everything, I think we made the right call on the pit-stops, tried to cover Kimi, but just didn’t have the speed. So part of it, is frustrating, but looking at the big picture, it is a great result to finish fifth and take that going forward.
“I ran out of energy, it was so frustrating. I saw the bar and got to the straight, and I knew halfway down that I was going to have nothing left, so it is something I learned from. I made sure that when the next pack of cars came, it never happens, and I made sure through the lap that I always had the energy, so it was a big learning point for me in the race.
“But realistically, he finished 10 seconds or something in front of me (11.530s), so I don’t think I would have kept him behind for another 30-odd laps, it was hard enough to keep the other group behind me,” summed up Lawson, who reflected on that brief fight with Tsunoda out of the pits. The Kiwi reckoned that the Japanese driver will eventually make it back on fresher tyres.
But it was difficult to overtake in a DRS train and Tsunoda was seemingly not taking larger risks. Also, Lawson did not think that it was a Red Bull car behind, but he took him just like another competitor. “For sure, he was on a fresh set of tyres, on a medium and a grippier tyre,” he said. “Honestly, I was preparing for him to end up catching me quicker, and I expected them to be faster.
“Obviously, looking at Max, they had a great race, and the car looks good. When I saw him come out on a better tyre, I was expecting him to catch me faster. I think our sector three was strong this weekend; it needed to be. And after the mistake with Kimi, I made sure I never ran out of energy again. I think it….you don’t really think like that [it was Yuki behind].
“When you are in the car as well, I know the position I am in, actually, to be honest I had no idea what position I was in until we crossed the line, but I knew we were in a decent position because of all the cars that were behind me. Naturally, you just want to keep the car behind. It was the same with Leclerc. It was the same with Kimi at the start.
“At the end of the race, obviously, I’m going to try and take a bit more risk to keep it there. So I don’t really think too much like that,” summed up Lawson. Teammate Hadjar had a good start when he managed to clear Norris off the line. But a mistake in the final corner cost him that place and one even to Leclerc. He eventually dropped to 10th after Hamilton made it through as well.
At one moment, it looked like Hadjar had an issue since he reported of power problem on the lap to the grid before the grand prix. He noted it to be a hydraulic issue, which was resolved. He was pissed eventually with the mistake he made in the same corner which cost him in qualifying as well.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s a shame because I felt good on the medium, on the very first lap I overtook Lando. I felt good and I did a repeat of yesterday on that kerb and I lost two places straight away to Charles and Lando,” said Hadjar to media. “So yeah, it was frustrating and then we fell back, but on the hard we were really quick and we were catching the guys ahead.
“There’s a probability we would have finished at the same position. I don’t think it would have changed the race. It’s just that it could have changed the race and I did this mistake. That’s what pisses me off. In important moments, I can’t allow myself to make mistakes like this. Yeah, I’m just mad because I didn’t really take the wind into account. And I did a repeat today that pisses me off even more.
“Yeah, definitely, honestly, it was good fight on track in the race, some good experience and apart from that mistake, no regret. I think Liam did a perfect race, and he only finished fifth from third, so I don’t think it would have been possible. Williams are faster, Mercedes are faster. I had hydraulic issues [before the start], it was fixed and it was fine. Not doing the race [there was nothing affecting me],” summed up Hadjar.
Here’s Isack Hadjar losing out to Lewis Hamilton: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-azerbaijan-grand-prix-hamilton-comes-out-on-top-in-battle-with-hadjar-for-p9.1843893853695917888
Here’s Liam Lawson losing out to Andrea Kimi Antonelli: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-azerbaijan-grand-prix-antonelli-charges-past-lawson-for-p9.1843881308463464962
Here’s Liam Lawson clearing Yuki Tsunoda: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-azerbaijan-grand-prix-lawson-pounces-to-power-past-tsunoda-and-snatch-p5.1843886115301564155
Here’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli on Liam Lawson move
Here’s how F1 Azerbaijan GP panned out