Red Bull junior Liam Lawson made it difficult for Yuki Tsunoda to adapt to conditions at Mexican GP

Liam Lawson is one of the most exciting young talents in racing today and is part of the Red Bull junior program. At the Mexico City GP two weeks ago, Lawson got an opportunity to drive an F1 car when he took the AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda out for a spin during FP1 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

This wasn’t Lawson’s first outing in an F1 car, however. The 20-year-old car was part of AlphaTauri’s young driver test in Abu Dhabi after the culmination of the 2021 season. In fact, earlier this year, he drove Pierre Gasly’s car at the Belgian GP weekend in Spa-Francorchamps.

THEY TOUCH! 😲

Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda collide! pic.twitter.com/geVQXJ7aes

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) October 30, 2022

Tsunoda did not have an ideal Mexico City GP. Despite not making it into Q3, he was having a decent race before qualifying damage forced him to retire. It was disappointing for him because he was hoping to make up places and challenge for a top-10 finish that afternoon. In a recent interview, he revealed that he found it difficult to adapt to the track that entire weekend.

Also read: “It contributed to my retirement”: Sebastian Vettel decided to retire because he wasn’t driving race winning cars anymore

Yuki Tsunoda did not get enough time to adapt because Liam Lawson drove his car

The Japanese driver has had a much better 2022 season compared to this turbulent rookie campaign in 2021, but he insists that he can still improve. In a recent interview, he admitted that he will approach the penultimate race in Brazil with a positive mindset despite his disappointing Mexico City GP result.

Tsunoda was adamant that up until his collision, the race in Mexico was his best this season in terms of tire management. He added that it became tricky for him to quickly adapt to the circuit conditions since he lost out on an hour’s practice after Lawson took his AT03 out for FP1.

Yuki Tsunoda: I will be racing in Brazil in a good frame of mind after Mexico, even though I retired from the race, as overall it was a positive weekend. I had to adapt quickly to the track, as Liam (Lawson) drove my car in FP1.

— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) November 9, 2022

“I will be racing in Brazil in a good frame of mind after Mexico,” said Tsunoda. “Even though I retired from the race, as overall it was a positive weekend. “I had to adapt quickly to the track, as Liam drove my car in FP1.”

Also read: Daniel Ricciardo is not threatened by Lewis Hamilton blocking his F1 return in 2024 amid talks of potential reserve role with Mercedes

Tsunoda hoping to improve on 2021 Interlagos outing

The 2021 Sao Paolo GP was Tsunoda’s first ever race at the iconic Interlagos circuit. Like this season, we saw a sprint race in 2021 as well. This means that the 22-year-old got just one Free Practice session to get a feel of the track before heading out for qualifying.

It turned out to be a difficult race for the Sagamihara-born driver, finishing P15. This time, however, Tsunoda is more bullish about his chances since he is sure he has a better grasp of the circuit and it’s layout.

Yuki Tsunoda is currently P17 in the Drivers’ Standings with 12 points to his name.