Liam Lawson declared that Racing Bulls is having “by far” its “strongest” season in the F1 2026 development battle.
Lawson’s verdict comes at a time where he is expecting imminent talks over his future within the Red Bull fold, having delivered a very impressive first-half of the season.
Liam Lawson and Racing Bulls maximising the VCARB 03
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Racing Bulls has been arguably the midfield standout in F1 2026. Lawson has failed to score points only three times so far this season. Rookie teammate Arvid Lindblad is on a six-race scoring streak.
Underpinning such form is a successful development strategy for the VCARB 03 cars, in what has been a frantic battle of upgrades across the grid at the start of this new regulatory era.
Lawson’s association with the team began in 2022. He was asked whether this is the strongest car development he has seen from Racing Bulls yet.
“On the development side, by far the strongest,” he confirmed to PlanetF1.com and others.
“So far, I think everything we’ve been bringing has been working very, very well. And that’s something that is hard in Formula 1.
“Obviously, you have upgrades that are run through simulations and theoretically can be better, but they’re not always exactly what they seem.
“So for us, it’s been very good, and I think we’ve become very strong at really maximising our package each weekend as well. I think starting a lot closer to our quali setups and having quite an aggressive car, but for us it’s been good to drive. I’ve been very, very happy with that.”
Asked why the development has been better this year compared to others for Racing Bulls, Lawson continued: “In a Formula 1 team, there’s a lot of people coming in and obviously moving on.
“I think it’s just that the team in the background, especially back at the factory, have done a very, very good job.
“It’s really the development side that has been very, very strong. So mostly the aero development stuff that’s been happening, the windtunnel time that the team’s been using as well. I think all of that’s been maximised and just been better this year than previous years.”
Speaking of personnel movement, Lawson was asked whether the arrival of Dan Fallows has been a critical factor in the Racing Bulls rise.
The former Red Bull aero chief and Aston Martin technical director began work at Racing Bulls in April. He took on the position of technical director at Racing Bulls.
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“It’s a lot of people that are working behind the scenes,” said Lawson.
“I think it’s something that probably in the first couple of upgrades, the first couple of things that we started making, that they started developing, when they start working, you head in quite a good direction. It’s quite easy.
“You see teams even develop something, and you bring something to a race, and it doesn’t work like you think it does, and you have to go three steps back to almost find your way again. I think that’s something that we haven’t had to do this year. Everything we’ve done has been working very well.”
Racing Bulls sits fifth in the F1 2026 Constructors’ standings, five points ahead of Alpine.
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
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Originally published by Planet F1 —
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