Liam Lawson received surprise help from Yuki Tsunoda before bagging his best F1 result

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Liam Lawson delivered the best result of his Formula 1 career at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix last September when he finished fifth.

Lawson had also set a personal best in a chaotic qualifying session when he grabbed a shock P3. While he lost out on a podium as he fell behind the Mercedes cars, he still bagged his first double-figure points haul.

The New Zealander finished one place ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, who achieved his highest finish as a Red Bull driver. This seemed significant given that the two drivers were in competition for a seat.

How would you rate Liam Lawson’s 2025 season out of 10?

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It was widely expected, even then, that Isack Hadjar would move to Red Bull for 2026. With Arvid Lindblad set to replace Hadjar at Racing Bulls, Lawson and Tsunoda were battling for the final spot.

Lawson eventually prevailed, with Tsunoda relegated to a reserve role.

Yuki Tsunoda ‘chose’ to stay behind Liam Lawson in Azerbaijan

Speaking to Autosport Web, Tsunoda’s 2025 Red Bull engineer, Richard Wood, revealed that he had sacrificed a P5 in Baku.

Without any instruction from the pit wall, Tsunoda ‘chose’ to stay in sixth so that he could hold up Lando Norris and boost the title chances of teammate Max Verstappen.

Verstappen won the race and Norris became stuck behind Tsunoda in seventh, allowing the Dutchman to gain 18 points.

🔢 Rank Max Verstappen’s five teammates since Daniel Ricciardo

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It looked as if Lawson was producing a defensive masterclass on a track featuring one of the longest DRS zones, but perhaps there was more to it than that.

“In that Grand Prix, Yuki qualified in sixth place, his best result since joining Red Bull, and in the race he was unlucky enough to finish in sixth place,” said Wood.

“He could have actually finished fifth, but he chose to stay in sixth place in order to hold off Lando, who was battling Max Verstappen for the championship.

“This was something Yuki decided to do on his own, not as instructed by the team. He prioritised the interests of the team over his own results.”

How did Liam Lawson react to Yuki Tsunoda losing his F1 seat?

Lawson and Tsunoda clashed at times on track in 2025, reflecting what was at stake. They were previously teammates at Racing Bulls, albeit for just six races.

Despite being far less experienced, Lawson was favoured when Red Bull dropped Sergio Perez at the end of 2024. He only lasted two races in the seat before Christian Horner turned to Tsunoda.

After it was announced that Tsunoda wouldn’t be racing in 2026, Lawson didn’t sound overly sympathetic. The Japanese driver has started over 100 Grands Prix, so can’t argue that he wasn’t given time.

“I think it’s tricky, because in the same way that I would feel for anybody that’s not in Formula 1 that’s worked a long time to get there, but at the same time, there are a lot of guys who don’t get the opportunity ever,” he said.

“And he’s had a few years in the sport. It’s a very, very tough game, which obviously I’ve learned as well.”