Liam Lawson will love what Yuki Tsunoda has just said about Red Bull amid their 2026 F1 seat battle

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Red Bull racer Yuki Tsunoda and Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson now have just three more rounds to prove why they should be given a seat on the Formula 1 grid in 2026.

It has increasingly become a straight battle between Tsunoda and Lawson for one of the two Racing Bulls drives next year, as Red Bull are widely expected to hand Formula 2 talent Arvid Lindblad his F1 debut. Isack Hadjar is also expected to step up from Racing Bulls to Red Bull.

Only one year ago, it was Lawson making the move from Faenza to Milton Keynes to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull, in a move which also opened the doors at Racing Bulls to Hadjar for his F1 debut. But Lawson struggled so Tsunoda moved up in March, yet he has also flopped.

So, Red Bull are weighing up who to partner Lindblad with at Racing Bulls, and a decision on Tsunoda and Lawson’s futures is due near the 2025 season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Red Bull delayed deciding the pair’s futures from their initial deadline of the Mexico City GP.

Yuki Tsunoda points the blame at Red Bull for some of his struggles in 2025

Red Bull delayed deciding Tsunoda and Lawson’s F1 futures so they both remain focused on their respective teams’ efforts in the F1 constructors’ championship. Red Bull can still finish 2025 in second place behind McLaren, while Racing Bulls are in a four-way battle over sixth.

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda’s life outside F1 from height to parents

Max Verstappen has carried Red Bull through the first 21 of this year’s 24 rounds, having so far scored 341 points compared to the 25 that Tsunoda has taken since he replaced Lawson after two point-less rounds. Lawson has scored 36 points to Hadjar’s 43 since his demotion.

And Lawson will love hearing Tsunoda is still partly blaming Red Bull for his woe in the RB21 ahead of round 22 at the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Tsunoda believes Red Bull cost him points in the Mexico City GP, and feels they can both do more to improve his bleak qualifying record.

“It’s not always just down to me,” Tsunoda said, via quotes by Motorsport-Total. “We would have scored points in Mexico with a perfect pit stop. But these things can happen. I’m glad it didn’t happen to Max, who’s fighting for the title.

“But I also know that I need to improve in qualifying. That’s something we need to work on, myself and the team. The pace is there. That’s very positive. Now, I just need to put it all together.”

Yuki Tsunoda may be helping Red Bull finalise their decision to keep Liam Lawson at Racing Bulls

Tsunoda finished P11 in the Mexico City GP during round 20, just 2.185s behind Sauber gem Gabriel Bortoleto in the final point-paying position. But the 25-year-old had also qualified in only P11 and he finished the race 79.048s off the lead and 47.999s behind Verstappen in P3.

READ MORE: Who is Racing Bulls F1 driver Liam Lawson? Everything you need to know

A slow pit stop on Lap 36/71 played its part in Tsunoda’s result, along with coming back out in traffic, having run inside the top 10 during his first stint. But Tsunoda cannot look back at minor issues like that to find an excuse as he tries to show Red Bull he deserves a 2026 seat.

Tsunoda has now failed to reach Q3 during 13 of his 19 qualifying sessions with Red Bull, as he then followed qualifying P11 in Mexico (before starting from P10) by bowing out in Q1 in P19 for the Sao Paulo GP. And Tsunoda now partly blaming Red Bull might only help Lawson.

It is said that Red Bull have privately decided to place Lawson and Lindblad at Racing Bulls in 2026, which would leave Tsunoda looking for a reserve driver role with Hadjar going to their main team. And Red Bull will not like hearing Tsunoda look for excuses, like his slow pit stop.