Liam Lawson showed confidence in the future of Racing Bulls in the 2026 Formula 1 season, and sent a direct message to the midfield competitors. The New Zealander believes the team will be in a ‘very, very good position’ once they manage to improve the car’s performance.
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Despite a consistent start, Lawson assesses that the VCARB 03 still does not have enough pace to regularly fight among the top ten. Even so, he and his teammate, rookie Arvid Lindblad, have managed to score points in all three races held so far.
During the break before the Miami GP, Lawson reviewed the first stages and highlighted that the results were within expectations. According to the driver, the performance in Melbourne was especially positive, even surpassing the team’s internal projections: “Probably, from what we saw in pre-season and where we expected to be in terms of speed, Melbourne was quite strong, definitely stronger than the other two stages we have had so far,” he said.
Lawson praised the team’s collective work in the first races of the season: “I think we definitely maximized what we had in terms of speed, which is very positive. The team did a very, very good job, everyone did a very good job,” he said.
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After three stages, the New Zealander occupies tenth position in the drivers’ championship, with ten points, six more than Lindblad, who appears right behind. Another notable fact is that the Racing Bulls duo scored only two points less than Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar, highlighting both the team’s good start and the difficulties faced by Red Bull Racing.
Even satisfied with the initial performance, Lawson made it clear that he expects progress in the next races: “The goal is to put more speed into the car and, when we do that, we should be in a very, very good position, because we managed to score points in every race with a car that potentially had difficulties staying in the top ten,” he added.
Lawson reinforced confidence in the team’s potential, should the improvements bring the expected performance: “When we have a faster car, we should be even stronger,” he concluded, showing optimism for the rest of the season.
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