Yuki Tsunoda has had multiple problems with Liam Lawson's driving at Formula 1's United States Grand Prix, believing Lawson is always doing "some s**t" on purpose.
Tsunoda was already unimpressed by a "very unnecessary" clash with Lawson at Monza last month and has been agitated by his driving twice during the Austin weekend already.
In Friday sprint qualifying, Tsunoda was irritated by Lawson's defence on their outlaps out of the pits at the end of SQ1 as they raced to get to the line in time to start another lap before the chequered flag - something Tsunoda missed, which meant he started the sprint in 18th place after a sluggish banker lap.
Tsunoda said: "It's more like his usual [driving]. I expect nothing more than that from him."
And Tsunoda was even more annoyed with Lawson in grand prix qualifying for allegedly interfering with his first run in Q2, with both drivers eliminated at the end of that segment.
"Lawson is uh...disturbing me on purpose, like slowing down like hell in the corners," was Tsunoda's message over the team radio.
But a look at the onboards for Tsunoda's first Q2 lap shows Lawson letting Tsunoda by on the long back straight out of the Turn 11 left-hander - the exact spot Tsunoda had let Lawson through while he was on his outlap just two minutes prior.
There is absolutely nothing in the available data to suggest that Lawson cost Tsunoda any time at all on his first run, with Lawson well up the road as Tsunoda approaches the Turn 11 left-hander, before slowing once they're well clear of the corner.
Tsunoda complained after qualifying: "Lawson, usual story, always does something on purpose and some s**t, it’s him. I don't care about him."
When told of Tsunoda’s complaints, Lawson replied: "What me? I've absolutely no idea what he's talking about.
"I can't possibly think where I could have been to be in front of him."
Lawson later added: "Honestly, I have absolutely no idea what he has to complain about. I don't really remember being in front of him in qualifying.
"He's obviously angry."
The Gasly excuse
Tsunoda also complained that Pierre Gasly's Alpine was in his way, believing Gasly was late in switching off the racing line on the run to the Turn 15 left-hander.
"[The] Alpine was literally in the way, I don't know what happened there, maybe miscommunication from their side," Tsunoda said.
"Lost a lot of laptime there, without [which] I would be in Q3. So far just can't have a normal qualifying, it's just really frustrating. Is what it is."
Gasly certainly wasn't buying it after qualifying, pointing to how Tsunoda had let him through in sector one - against the informal agreement made between drivers.
“This guy [Tsunoda] is not happy and we know between drivers how to let past other cars and know that in that sector one, you don't do it in the middle of sector one with Yuki. He wasn't happy the way I let him pass, which I don't understand because it doesn't make sense to me," Gasly said.
"I feel like I've tried my best, when he clearly didn't. That cost us a bit."
Just like the Lawson 'hold-up', there is little evidence to suggest Gasly cost Tsunoda any of the 0.228s he needed to advance to Q3.
In fact, it's Tsunoda's scrappy run to the Turn 11 left-hander earlier in the lap cost him far more than those two tenths.
If Tsunoda's looking for a reason for his 12th failure to reach Q3 as a Red Bull Racing driver in 17 races, unfortunately, he can only look inwards, not at the man he replaced.
