Liam Lawson’s not buying the early-season hype around Racing Bulls’ form — even if the points column suggests the team’s comfortably in the mix.
Three races into Formula 1’s new 2026 era, Racing Bulls have quietly made themselves a nuisance in the midfield. They’ve put a car in the top 10 at every round: Arvid Lindblad opened his F1 life with P8 on debut in Melbourne, Lawson backed it up with seventh in both the China Sprint and Grand Prix, and then added ninth at Suzuka. That’s a tidy start by any standard.
But Lawson insists it’s been achieved without the VCARB 03 ever really showing its hand on outright pace — which, in his view, is precisely why the next phase looks more interesting than the first.
“I think, to be honest, we haven’t actually been that fast, but still managed to come away with three points finishes,” Lawson told media after the Japanese Grand Prix. The subtext is obvious: Racing Bulls have been doing the hard yards well — execution, decision-making, staying in the fight — and there’s room to climb if the car takes a step.
That idea of “if” matters. The midfield doesn’t wait for anyone, and the new technical cycle has already produced weekends where the competitive order feels like it’s written in pencil rather than ink. Still, Lawson sounded more energised than cautious when talking about where Racing Bulls could land once development starts to bite.
“So I think it’s when we get a really quick car, we’ll obviously be in a much better place,” he said. “And if we keep making the decisions we’re making, I think it’s quite exciting.”
The timing, at least, is convenient. With Bahrain and Saudi Arabia removed from the calendar, teams have been handed an impromptu April break before the championship resumes in Miami — a rare mid-season pocket of time that isn’t hemmed in by the usual restrictions you’d associate with the summer shutdown.
For a team like Racing Bulls, it’s the sort of window you can actually use: more hours to refine parts you already want to bring, more time to validate changes, and — crucially early in a new regulation era — a chance to chase reliability improvements without trying to do open-heart surgery between back-to-back flyaways.
Asked in China whether the pause would be helpful, Lawson didn’t hesitate.
“I think so,” he said. “Obviously, it means we have more time. We have some stuff that we want to bring, hopefully in the next few races, and it gives us time to prepare that.
“Also on the reliability side as well, for a lot of teams, to make sure we’re in a great position.”
That last line is telling. Everyone in the paddock knows 2026 has changed enough variables to turn robustness into performance. A car that finishes every session, hits its mileage, and lets engineers iterate cleanly often looks “quick” simply because it’s never tripping over its own processes. Lawson’s framing suggests Racing Bulls have been surviving a messy phase better than most — and he’s banking on that compounding once the upgrade cycle properly starts.
For now, the results have put Racing Bulls seventh in the Constructors’ Championship with 14 points. It’s not a headline-grabbing tally, but it’s the sort of foundation that gives a midfield team options: you can be bolder with development calls when you’ve already banked points, and you can afford the odd experimental weekend if you’ve proven you can still come home with something on a “not that fast” car.
The next few races will show whether Lawson’s downplaying is modesty, realism, or an early warning to the rest of the midfield. Either way, Racing Bulls have started 2026 like a team that’s organised — and in this sport, that’s often the first step towards being genuinely quick.
