Tsunoda and Lawson Shine in Thrilling São Paulo GP

RB F1 delivered a strong performance at Interlagos, securing valuable points after an impressive Sunday morning qualifying session.

Laurent Mekies, the RB F1 team principal, expressed his satisfaction with his team’s performance on Sunday at Interlagos. Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson qualified in third and fifth positions for the São Paulo Grand Prix before securing points despite facing less-than-optimal strategies.

“We had an incredible qualifying session on Sunday morning. The drivers and the team delivered a flawless performance, consistently leading the timings throughout qualifying. This strong showing is a testament to everyone’s hard work,” Mekies stated.

“The race itself was a true rollercoaster. We knew it would be challenging and heavily dependent on the weather conditions. We were in a very strong position during the first half of the race, with Yuki holding onto third place with impressive pace and Liam defending his position superbly.”

“However, our race was impacted by the red flag, which reduced the advantage of both drivers, but that’s part of racing in these conditions.”

“We leave with eight points, which is an excellent result. Congratulations to Max for his outstanding driving, and well done to Alpine, although the points they scored will make the fight even tighter for us in the last three races.”

“It’s always close, and we had a fast car this weekend. Now we have 19 days before the final triple-header of the season, and we’ll be working relentlessly at home to build on the momentum from the last two races and make the most of the car. We’re ready to battle in Las Vegas.”

Jody Egginton, the team’s technical director, noted that a somewhat limited pace and an ill-timed interruption proved costly: “The day began well, with both drivers qualifying in the top five, showing solid performance on both wet and intermediate tyres. We were well-prepared for a good race.”

“The first phase of the race went smoothly, with Yuki in third and Liam also putting in a strong initial stint in seventh. As the rain intensified and track conditions deteriorated, both cars switched to wet tyres.”

“The two Alpine cars stayed out, taking strong positions which they maintained under the red flag, gaining the advantage of fresh tyres. At the restart, our pace wasn’t quite where it needed to be to keep up with the cars ahead. Yuki finished seventh, and Liam in ninth, spending much of the race fending off Hamilton and Perez.”

“It’s positive to score points with both cars; however, seeing what Alpine managed to achieve leaves us frustrated, as there was potential for more. We’ll go back, analyse the race and the drivers’ feedback to determine what we could have done differently, so we’re fully prepared for Las Vegas.”