Ollie Bearman said Yuki Tsunoda acted “against the spirit of how we should go racing” after the two almost collided at the 2025 United States Grand Prix.
The Haas driver was left incensed by the Red Bull driver in Austin where, on lap 35, Bearman attempted an overtake on Tsunoda at Turn 15 but went off the track in avoidance of the Red Bull and spun.
“I felt like what he did was quite dangerous, against the spirit of how we should go racing and against the image that we should project to kids growing up in karting and stuff,” said Bearman after the race.
“This is not the way we go racing. He was swerving all over the place for a few laps. And when I finally did stick my nose in and attempt to move, he moved in reaction… didn't leave a car's width of track, and that's unfair, that's not allowed, and that caused me to avoid.
“It could have caused a huge crash, honestly, without my quick avoidance, so it's a big shame.”
Bearman finished ninth for Haas but said “P7 was not an unrealistic result”. Tsunoda meanwhile finished in that seventh position.
“It's dangerous and it causes big crashes like this - we've seen it numerous times,” Bearman said.
Moreover, Bearman criticised Tsunoda’s driving in the sprint on Saturday in Austin, where the Red Bull tapped the Racing Bulls driver into Turn 1 at the start.
“In the sprint race, he sent it up the inside into Turn 1 and took out his sister car. In the main race, he did the same thing in Turn 1 again. So I feel like his driving may be a little bit desperate, and that was shown in his defence today.”
Tsunoda's defence
Tsunoda defended his racing over the US GP weekend.
“I don’t think I moved under braking. It’s just a bit unfortunate how we ended up in that race like that, especially as we were having a good fight until then.”
When pushed to answer Bearman’s criticism over his Turn 1 move in the sprint, Tsunoda was again forthright.
“That’s racing, right? I was fully in control, I didn’t have any lockups, and I was literally side by side. I’m not his team-mate, I’m just fighting to be in the top 10 or more so yeah, I thought that was OK.”
Bearman says he hasn't had an issue with Tsunoda before, but went on to criticise Tsunoda for defending against Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc - who finished third in the US Grand Prix - despite the pair not racing for position on Sunday.
“Have I had this issue? No, but I feel like he has this issue with other drivers. He was fighting against Charles [Leclerc], who is not even in the race with him. Like, why are you defending [against] him? It just seems silly what he's doing. It's just not thinking forward. Silly driving, in my opinion.”
Bearman said that he won’t talk to Tsunoda about his racecraft, “because I don't think he will change”.
