Tsunoda explains why he avoided ‘hero’ move on Lawson

Yuki Tsunoda celebrated a career-best finish with Red Bull Racing in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, securing sixth and eight valuable points – his best result in F1 since his fourth-place finish in Abu Dhabi way back in 2021.

The Japanese driver engaged in a thrilling battle with former Racing Bulls teammate Liam Lawson in the closing stages of the race.

However, Tsunoda admitted that he had to temper his instincts to avoid a risky “hero” move on his rival that could have jeopardized the team’s strong showing.

A Tense Battle with Lawson

Tsunoda found himself hot on Lawson’s heels after emerging from his pit stop on lap 38 of 51, with the pair vying for position just ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.

At that point, Lawson’s warmer rubber trumped Tsunoda’s fresher tyres, allowing the Kiwi to cross the checkered flag just half a second ahead of Tsunoda.

Despite his desire to push in the closing laps, Tsunoda explained why he had to hold back.

“I had a lot of emotions that I wanted to overtake, and so some hero thing, some hero stuff in overtaking, but yeah, [I told myself to] slow down,” he said.

“I couldn't do some aggressive manoeuvre and lose position to Lando, it matters for Red Bull as a team being ahead of McLaren. The most important thing is to be ahead of McLaren, and both cars were in front.”

Reflecting on the race, Tsunoda acknowledged he could have attempted a bolder move on Lawson just after his tyre change.

“In the second stint, unfortunately, if I was able to rejoin two metres faster, probably I would have been able to keep Liam behind,” he said.

A Weekend of Progress

Tsunoda praised both his own performance and the support of the Red Bull team, highlighting improvements in strategy and car setup.

“I'm happy with the fantastic job with the strategy, and something I was able to improve into this week was the long run, which was massive. And I was also internally supported by the team to make changes to the car, which affected the long runs. So yeah, it was just good,” he said.

With this result, Tsunoda not only enjoyed his best F1 finish in nearly four seasons, he also demonstrated a growing maturity in balancing aggression with tactical awareness – key traits as he continues to settle into his role at Red Bull Racing.

Read also: Lawson ‘gave it everything’ as Tsunoda threat loomed large in Baku

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