Tsunoda and Lawson thrilled with ‘epic’ qualifying result in Sao Paulo as RB look to catch Haas in constructors' battle

Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson were delighted after both achieving their best-ever qualifying results ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, with the RB pair set to line up in third and fifth respectively following a dramatic session.

With qualifying moved to Sunday morning following Saturday’s challenging weather, the drivers were still faced with tricky conditions as the rain-affected session played out – as several soon discovered, given that five drivers triggered red flags by hitting the barriers.

READ MORE: Norris beats Russell and Tsunoda to pole position in Sao Paulo amid five red flags in dramatic rain-affected qualifying

This left just seven cars remaining in the final minutes of Q3, including both Tsunoda and Lawson. And while Lando Norris posted an unbeatable pole time of 1m 23.405s – followed by George Russell in second – Tsunoda was best of the rest in an impressive P3, while Lawson slotted in behind Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in P5.

Reflecting on the session after jumping out of the car, Tsunoda praised the team’s performance as he commented: “It was very tricky, certainly I enjoyed it. I think we had a good pace from straightaway.

“[I] had a couple of mistakes but had a bit of luck as well. I think overall as a team, including Liam as well, we did a really good job.”

Asked about how difficult it is to balance risk and reward in such conditions, Tsunoda acknowledged that the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace can pose a particularly tough challenge in this scenario.

“This track especially is probably one of the trickiest tracks,” he explained. “Once you start building confidence and try to over-push a little bit, you have massive consequences like we saw [with] multiple cars today.

HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the action from a chaotic qualifying at Interlagos as Norris leads Russell and Tsunoda after multiple red flags

“I had one big moment and luckily I was away from the barrier but suddenly it’s there. I feel much better than yesterday. The car felt good. I think we had good pace in the rain as well so it’s a good place to start from today.”

And with RB having enjoyed a much better day than Haas – who suffered a double elimination in Q1 – Tsunoda admits that the squad will “100%” focus on scoring maximum points in order to close their 10-point deficit to the American outfit in the constructors’ battle for sixth place.

“We are slightly behind P6, especially Haas, so we definitely need to catch up,” Tsunoda added. “This is the moment that we want to maximise opportunity so as a team, we did as much as we can to score as much as possible.”

Lawson was also feeling positive about the team’s result, though admitted that he was disappointed with a mistake he made during his one and only flying lap in the final minutes of Q3.

READ MORE: Red Bull drivers left frustrated after dramatic Q2 exit in Sao Paulo as they assess chances of gaining ground in Grand Prix

“Firstly [I’m] happy for the team, very, very happy,” the New Zealander said. “It’s a great position for the afternoon, and congrats to Yuki, he’s done a very good job.

“Personally I’m frustrated [that] I made a really big mistake and lost a lot of time. Obviously we all went out there – or most of us went out there – for that one lap and unfortunately you pay the price for that. But very happy for the team, this is an epic starting position for the afternoon.”