Are Lawson and Lindblad's performances going under the radar?

While much of the focus has been on the top four teams, Racing Bulls have been making quiet progress to become one of the strongest and most consistent midfield outfits – so why are their performances still going under the radar?

Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad secured their third consecutive double points finish at the Austrian Grand Prix, consolidating their current spot of sixth in the standings and simultaneously reducing their deficit to Alpine to 13 points.

When the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull are dominating the headlines, it’s easy to look past those who aren’t challenging for race wins, but here’s why Racing Bulls deserve a little more attention…

Lawson’s redemption continues

The New Zealander has had a somewhat fractured F1 career which can be summarised by the fact that this is only his second full season in the sport, and his first with a single team after Red Bull demoted him to their sister squad after just two rounds in 2025.

Lawson has quickly settled into his role as leader and accumulated 30 points so far, kicking off his scoring with a pair of P7s in the Sprint and Grand Prix in China before suffering a weekend to forget in Miami. An incident with midfield rival Pierre Gasly ruled him out of the race, marking one of the two rounds in which he has failed to score.

Another seventh place at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve was followed by the 24-year-old matching his career-best result of P6 in Monaco, where he praised Racing Bulls for their “big turnaround”. He did admit that “just surviving is giving us points”, but one of the team’s greatest strengths has been capitalising on every opportunity to score.

He’s now on a run of four Grands Prix in the top 10 and hasn’t shown any sign of letting up, even though it’s rarely an easy ask. From a gearbox failure in Miami to a hydraulic issue in Canada, Lawson has endured his fair share of obstacles en route to P10 in the standings – most recently, he reported he “couldn’t really breathe for a good few laps” at the beginning of the Austrian Grand Prix due to smoke in the car, but it didn’t stop him from finishing ninth.

Reflecting on Racing Bulls’ performance at the Red Bull Ring, he gave the understated response: “It’s good. Honestly, the car’s been good all weekend. Compared to last week as well, we’ve definitely made a step in long run pace, so I’m very happy.”

How lone rookie Lindblad has made his mark

As this season’s sole rookie driver, the only benchmark that Formula 2 graduate Lindblad can compare himself to is his 21 rivals that all have more experience than him.

But the challenge seems to have done the opposite of intimidating the teenager, who demonstrated exactly why he earned a full-time seat by claiming four points on his debut at the Australian Grand Prix – a “pretty nuts” result by all accounts.

The next few rounds, all held at circuits Lindblad had never raced before, exposed his rookie status as spins and a lack of pace saw him go without a top-10 finish until the Canada Sprint. After placing P8, he qualified a respectable P9 for the main event before a gear problem ruled him out of the Grand Prix, in which he believed he “would’ve been fighting for P6 or P7 on merit”.

Since that setback, he’s enjoyed a fantastic upwards trajectory and secured his highest finish of the season in Monaco, just like his team mate. That P7 boost coincided with Lindblad beginning to feel more comfortable in the car, which was made obvious again as he secured P9 and P10 in Barcelona and Austria respectively.

Neither Racing Bulls driver has been shy in expressing their struggles, with Lindblad repeatedly emphasising the work he still has to do, but he has also been eager to celebrate how far they’ve come. Following the Austrian Grand Prix, he said: “The guys in the team are doing a really good job. They’ve brought some really good upgrades over the past couple of races.

“We’re in a really good place so, yeah, big thanks to them this weekend. Double points again, so very much looking forward to Silverstone.”

A very pleased Permane

Momentum can be crucial, and it would be hard to argue that Racing Bulls haven’t unlocked some in recent weeks. Like every team, they’ve identified their weaknesses and limitations, but it’s a major vote of confidence when your drivers are often more happy than not.

Team Principal Alan Permane knows that well and has managed to create an environment that both Lawson and Lindblad – one whose confidence was knocked a year ago, and one tackling the daunting task of being the grid’s only rookie – can feel confident in.

That was intruded upon as baseless rumours spread that F2’s Nikola Tsolov had been offered a seat at the team for 2027, provoking Permane to publicly state that “we haven’t spoken about it internally at all”, which is no surprise considering how their current line-up has more than proven that they are up to the job.

The team boss was even more content with their showing at the Red Bull Ring as he concluded: “It was a pretty perfect weekend for us here in Austria. The last couple of weekends we’ve had a quick car in Qualifying, which we haven’t been able to convert into race pace, but the whole team, both here at track and the factories in Faenza and Milton Keynes, have worked very hard to turn that around.

“We brought an update here and had indications on Friday that our pace was decent on long runs, but you never really know until you get into the race. It was pretty clear today though that we were quick, so a huge well done to Liam and Arvid for bringing it home in 9th and 10th quite comfortably. We really look forward to getting to Silverstone next week!"

Looking ahead

Lawson’s faith in his abilities is more solid than ever, and Lindblad looks perfectly at home having scored in half of the Grands Prix he’s competed in this season. So what’s next for the team hitting such brilliant form?

F1’s summer in Europe offers a brilliant chance for Racing Bulls to keep adding to their points tally as Lindblad knows the circuits well, having driven at many throughout his junior career.

“He continues to grow in stature a little bit, I think,” Permane reflected before the Austrian Grand Prix. “It doesn’t feel new anymore with him. His first laps, he’s into it, especially now we’re at tracks he knows. I think that’s really helping. Here, Silverstone, Spa, Budapest – he should just be stepping up each weekend and I think we can see that in him.”

That extra assurance could be extremely useful in their midfield fight, with the gap to Alpine acting as a great motivator. The Enstone-based team failed to score for the first time this season at the Red Bull Ring – bad news for them, but it could be the spark needed for Racing Bulls to launch a serious challenge for P5 in the standings and establish that they can be the ‘best of the rest’.