Liam Lawson outqualifies Yuki Tsunoda in Japanese Grand Prix

By Alex Powell

Was it the driver? Or is it the car?

That’s what Red Bull will now be asking themselves, after Liam Lawson outqualified stablemate Yuki Tsunoda, to start 14th and 15th respectively in Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.

Just over a week after Red Bull made the decision to swap the two drivers, Lawson’s best time was 0.094s quicker than Tsunoda, as both were eliminated in the second qualifying session.

While Lawson had gone quicker than Tsunoda in Friday’s second practice session, beating him in qualifying will be the boost the Kiwi needs before tomorrow’s race, as he rebuilds with Racing Bulls - the sister side of Red Bull.

Despite the moral victory, though, Lawson made no mention of beating Tsunoda, and was frank in his assessment of his display.

“It was ok,” said Lawson post-qualifying. “It was a disappointing end, to be honest.

“We had a competitive car yesterday, [and] had a good Q1. We were trying to chase the balance through quali, and it got to the point in Q2 where we couldn’t tune it much more.

“Unfortunately, we hit a wall and struggled. Honestly, it felt like a good lap. It’s something we’ll review.

“From where I’m starting, I wouldn’t mind a bit of rain.”

After starting from pit lane in both Melbourne and Shanghai, though, Lawson starting 14th in what’s supposed to be an inferior car to Red Bull’s RB21 is a huge statement from the Kiwi, as he looks to prove he can have a future with the senior outfit. What’s more, given Suzuka is Tsunoda’s home race, the qualifying display won’t be appreciated by Red Bull, as it fights to stay in the hunt for the world title, just three races into 2025.

World champion Max Verstappen claimed pole position, further highlighting the issue with Red Bull - that its car is only set up for the Dutchman - and finished 1.05s faster than Tsunoda.

McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri continued their strong start to 2025 by qualifying second and third respectively, while Charles Leclerc of Ferrari will start fourth to complete the second row.

Tsunoda had changed his aerodynamic set-up shortly before qualifying, in order to give himself a more conservative rear wing. That move clearly cost the Japanese driver, as the added control cost him speed through Suzuka’s fast corners.

However, Lawson was still bettered by teammate Isack Hadjar, who will start seventh, and was 0.337s quicker than the Kiwi. That, though, is understandable, given the Frenchman is now into his third Grand Prix weekend with the team and its new VCARB02 car.

Potentially altering the equation is the threat of rain during tomorrow’s Grand Prix, and with Lawson and Tsunoda to start next to each other, turn one will be box office.

Earlier, Lawson logged the 12th fastest time in the final practice session, and took his tally to 60 laps before qualifying, greater than the length of Sunday’s race, 53.

In his one timed lap in practice three, the last before qualifying, Lawson recorded a best time of 1m 29.104s, and was 1.139s off McLaren’s Lando Norris, who set the fastest time of the session with 1m 27.965s.

Significantly, Lawson was also able to get through all three sessions and get through runs on all three different tyre compounds - soft, medium and hard.

However, he was also the slowest of the four Red Bull-affiliated cars. Lawson was 0.318s back from Hadjar, who finished with the 10th fastest time.

Regardless, getting through three practice sessions was a boost for Lawson, as the first time he’s been able to fully prepare for a Grand Prix this season.

In Melbourne, the Kiwi’s third session was wiped out by a pneumatic issue with his RB21, while last month’s Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai was a sprint race weekend, that limited Lawson to just one practice before qualifying.

All up, Lawsoni was 13th fastest in practice one, and fifth in practice two - which itself was stopped by four separate red flags.

As was the case on Friday, the third session was forced into an early red flag, when the patch of grass at turn 11 caught fire. Friday’s second practice session was stopped no fewer than four times, with two of them being for grass fires.

And while the session was largely completed without major incident, one final grass fire and red flag resulted in practice being stopped, and wiped out the final six minutes.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission