Lawson, Tsunoda push back on Verstappen ’numb’ claim

Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda have pushed back against Max Verstappen’s suggestion that the 2026 Formula 1 cars are so "numb" that drivers can adapt unusually quickly.

Verstappen pointed to both drivers in a BBC interview this week. "No disrespect," said the quadruple world champion, "but look at Yuki."

"He jumps in the car. Never driven the car before. Immediately competitive. Liam jumps from the Racing Bulls to the Red Bull - immediately competitive."

"It’s because these cars are numb to your driver inputs."

Asked about the comments in Madrid, Lawson disagreed that the current cars are necessarily simpler.

"The cars in general, they’re not simpler because they’re actually quite complicated, at least the way the energy is," said the New Zealander.

He said he and Tsunoda are the only drivers who can really comment.

"Myself and Yuki could jump in these cars, we’re really the only ones that know what it’s like to try and get up to speed in a new car," said Lawson.

"So it’s definitely not a simple thing."

Lawson did concede Verstappen may have a point about the initial learning curve.

"Maybe all the cars are ok to jump in to drive and maybe they are reasonably simple to get up to speed," he acknowledged.

Tsunoda was even less interested in the comparison.

"It’s his comments, so... I don’t know," said the Japanese, who said he has little interest in remaining in F1 next year as a reserve driver.

"It’s a different car, for sure. Obviously, energy deployments and stuff is different."

But he rejected the idea that his own results prove Verstappen’s wider point.

"I’m not really taking anything from his comments and compare to my results, what I showed in two races, it’s a very individual thing, I think."

"I think I’ve done a good job and that’s it."