Former IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe anticipates that Racing Bulls will achieve a podium during the 2026 Formula 1 season.
Asked by F1 to issue a bold prediction for the remaining races after the summer break, Hinchcliffe, who raced in IndyCar between 2011 and 2021, suggested the Red Bull sister team will make it into the top three, but hesitated to predict which driver would achieve it.
“Not unlike how [Isack] Hadjar pulled one off last season for the Faenza squad, I feel there is a chance for one this season with how well that team have developed and how strong both drivers are at the moment,” he said.
“I’m not going to say which one I think could be the more likely candidate, simply because I don’t know.
“Both are delivering at a very high level throughout the weekends, and if things fall just right – maybe in our first rain-affected race of the year – it wouldn’t surprise me if either [Liam] Lawson or [Arvid] Lindblad were there to capitalise.”
Lawson leads Lindblad
Of the two Racing Bulls drivers, Lawson currently sits comfortably ahead in the Drivers’ Standings, with 43 points compared with Lindblad’s 23.
Racing Bulls currently have 66 points and occupy the coveted fifth-place spot in the Constructors’ Standings, behind the top four teams.
The Faenza-based outfit’s first podium came at the Dutch Grand Prix last year, when then-rookie Isack Hadjar finished third following a series of yellow flags.
It was the first podium the team had scored since 2021, when Pierre Gasly finished third at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, in which the team competed as AlphaTauri.
Gasly, now an Alpine driver, is also the only driver to have scored a podium for a team outside the top four so far in the 2026 season.
Alpine currently sit five points behind Racing Bulls in the Constructors’ Championship.
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Originally published by motorsportweek.com —
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