Yuki Tsunoda has apologised to the Racing Bulls team for comments he made about Liam Lawson after Qualifying last time out at the United States Grand Prix, with the Japanese driver labelling his remarks as “very unnecessary”.

Tsunoda had hit out at Lawson following Saturday’s running in Austin when he felt that he had been blocked by the New Zealander, marking another flashpoint between the pair after a previous battle in Friday’s Sprint Qualifying when both tried to reach the line in time to set a final SQ1 lap.

Following Qualifying, Tsunoda said of his rival: “With Lawson, it’s just the usual story. He’s always doing something on purpose, and it’s b*******, so it’s him. I don’t care about him, to be honest." Lawson, meanwhile, responded that he had “absolutely no idea what he’s talking about”.

With both in attendance for Thursday’s first drivers’ press conference ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix, Tsunoda and Lawson were quizzed on whether they had spoken since Austin and if they were now happy to go racing against each other.

“I don’t think we have spoken in person,” Tsunoda responded, before Lawson commented: “I don’t really know what happened in Austin, to be honest.”

Tsunoda – who previously drove for Racing Bulls until his seat swap with Lawson at Round 3 of the championship in Japan, a move that saw Lawson demoted after just two races as a Red Bull driver – then explained: “I apologised to the team, to VCARB, for what I said in the media – it was very unnecessary.”