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Lawson and Tsunoda Reject Verstappen Claim That 2026 F1 Cars Dumb Down Driving
Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda have dismissed Max Verstappen's argument that 2026 machinery has diluted driving skill, defending their rapid stand-in pace against claims that modern cars are numb to driver input.
By Nadia van Leeuwen - 2026-09-10T16:26:52.000Z - 3 min read
Rather than taking Max Verstappen's critique of the 2026 regulations lying down, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda have pushed back against the suggestion that their recent pace was simply the product of numb machinery. The controversy erupted after the four-time world champion argued to the BBC that modern machinery has diminished the influence of driving skill, citing the seamless transitions of his fellow Red Bull drivers to substantiate his case. For Lawson and Tsunoda, however, mastering current machinery remains anything but straightforward.
Speaking in an interview with the BBC, Verstappen leveled sharp criticism at Formula 1's contemporary power units, insisting they have stripped away the raw driving challenge that traditionally rewarded bravery on track. In previous eras, the Dutchman argued, lap time came from braking latest, applying throttle earliest and leaning hard into high-speed corners. Under current regulations, he claimed, drivers are forced to compromise corner entries by lifting, braking early or delaying throttle application purely to conserve battery energy for straight-line speed.
To prove his point, Verstappen pointed directly to the substitute appearances made across Red Bull and Racing Bulls. Without intending disrespect, he noted that Tsunoda proved competitive right away despite never having driven the chassis beforehand, while Lawson stepped from Racing Bulls straight into the senior Red Bull team with equal immediacy. That instant adaptability, Verstappen contended, demonstrated that modern cockpits have become insensitive to individual driver inputs, allowing replacements to match high performance thresholds without the historical learning curve.
Addressing those assertions in comments reported by Crash.net, Lawson rejected the notion that the latest machinery represents an easier assignment. While conceding that complex energy profiles can leave certain elements outside a driver's direct control, the New Zealander stressed that managing those systems is inherently complicated. Having stepped between chassis himself, Lawson pointed out that only drivers tasked with sudden mid-season adaptations fully understand the operational hurdles involved.
Expanding on the technical realities, Lawson acknowledged that wider performance spreads between teams this year might give outside observers the impression of an effortless transition. Inside the garage, the picture is far more nuanced. Lawson explained that he spent recent weeks wrestling with handling characteristics that diverged sharply from preferences built up over the past eighteen months, forcing him to adapt his driving style around traits that refused to show up on telemetry sheets.
Fresh from scoring a point at Monza, Tsunoda adopted a cooler posture toward the debate. The Japanese driver finished tenth on the road at the Italian Grand Prix and treated the world champion's comments as little more than background noise. While acknowledging that energy management prevented him from attacking flat out through certain sections at Monza, Tsunoda emphasized that his execution across two race outings was an individual achievement that speaks for itself.
Underneath the dispute lies a competitive dynamic shaped by their shared history at Milton Keynes. As reported by Motorsport.com, Tsunoda partnered Verstappen at Red Bull during the previous championship, finishing seventeenth in the standings while the Dutchman secured second overall. After losing his race seat for the 2026 campaign and moving into a reserve capacity, stepping back into competitive cockpits to deliver immediate results was vital for both stand-ins, irrespective of their former team-mate's philosophical disdain for the current rulebook.
Between a four-time champion frustrated by artificial driving limits and two reserves fighting for their careers, the divide exposes an unresolved tension in modern grand prix racing. Verstappen sees a regulatory formula where lift-and-coast tactics and electronic battery harvesting mask the purest talents on the grid. Lawson and Tsunoda, by contrast, view their rapid integration as hard-won proof of adaptability in an unforgiving operational environment. Both camps draw on identical technical realities, yet reach opposing verdicts on whether the driver or the powertrain now governs performance.