Yuki Tsunoda under fire for ‘incredibly stupid’ Liam Lawson collision
Yuki Tsunoda has yet to learn his Red Bull fate
Banging wheels with Liam Lawson in a battle that damaged his Red Bull RB21, Helmut Marko says it was “incredibly stupid” for Yuki Tsunoda to collide with a stablemate at the Italian Grand Prix.
F1 2026 Red Bull hopefuls Tsunoda and Lawson went wheel-to-wheel midway through the Italian Grand Prix as they headed towards the Roggia chicane, with Tsunoda overtaking the Racing Bulls driver before Lawson tried to fight back.
Yuki Tsunoda tangled with Liam Lawson at Monza
Bumping wheels as his front left made contact with Tsunoda’s rear right, both drivers went off the track.
Although they were able to continue, Tsunoda suffered floor damage that meant the Japanese driver, who started the grand prix in ninth place, wasn’t able to fight for a points-scoring finish as he brought his RB21 home in 13th place with Lawson P14.
Marko wasn’t impressed with Tsunoda.
“There was an unnecessary collision with Lawson,” Marko told PlanetF1.com’s Thomas Maher and other media outlets at Monza. “I don’t know how bad the damage was. His pace, there was no pace.”
However, speaking with Sky Deutschland, the 82-year-old was more critical in his comments.
“The collision with Lawson from our own team was incredibly stupid,” he said. “It seems to have damaged the car severely.”
At a time when Tsunoda is fighting for his Red Bull career, if not his continued participation in Formula 1, it was a big blow for the 25-year-old.
Yuki Tsunoda v Max Verstappen: F1 2025 head-to-head stats
👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates
👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates
Since joining Red Bull from Racing Bulls ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, he’s scored just nine points in 14 races, and has only broken into Q3 on six occasions.
One of those was Monza, but the damage to his RB21 prevented him from fighting for a points-scoring result.
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies was asked about his “parameters” regarding the decision about who will partner Max Verstappen at Red Bull next season.
He told PlanetF1.com’s Thomas Maher and other media outlets: “So, the same as on you guys, quali pace, race pace, that’s what we look at, it’s as simple as that.”
He went on to defend Tsunoda’s performance at the Italian Grand Prix.
“Today’s race for Yuki is difficult to read, because of the traffic in the first stint, damage in the second stint.
“But I look at qualifying, I still qualify it as a good weekend. He was two tenths from Max in Q1. Max was not exactly slow this weekend and with a small deficit from the car, he was two tenths from Max in Q2.
“There is no doubt everybody is pushing 100 per cent in Q2, and yes, the gap was bigger in Q3, but first he put the car in Q3, which is a very good performance, and second, he was first on the road in Q3. It didn’t help as well.
“I think short run pace was a very good sample for Yuki, long run pace, it’s frustrating not to have a clean race day.”
Tsunoda and Lawson’s latest flashpoint comes just weeks before Red Bull decide who will partner Verstappen next season.
Although the team initially intended to make a decision at the summer break, Marko revealed at Zandvoort that they had postponed it for a few weeks.
“We’ve extended the options, or rather, the drivers have extended them with us,” Marko told Sky Deutschland.
“So, around September or October, we want to have a few more races to observe, and then we’ll make the decisions.”
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