Lawson: Racing Bulls struggling to turn Saturday pace into Sunday points

Liam Lawson has admitted Racing Bulls is struggling to understand why its VCARB 03 can deliver strong qualifying results but repeatedly falters when converting that speed into race-day points. The New Zealander says the team is not facing a fundamental flaw, yet the gap between Saturday promise and Sunday execution is becoming a costly pattern in its constructors' championship fight against Alpine.

Why it matters:

Racing Bulls has regularly shown midfield-leading pace over one lap, but F1 rewards Sunday performance. With Alpine consistently outscoring them on race day, the Faenza-based squad risks letting crucial championship positions slip away if it cannot solve its race trim issues.

The details:

• In Spain, Lawson qualified eighth, ahead of both Alpine drivers, but Pierre Gasly recovered to finish seventh, one spot ahead of the Racing Bulls driver.
• A similar story played out in Canada, where Lawson gained five places to finish seventh, yet Franco Colapinto and Gasly both scored strongly for the French team.
• Lawson believes the issue lies in race balance rather than raw pace. "The speed of the car is there," he said, but the team needs to refine how the car behaves at race speeds compared to its qualifying setup.

What's next:

The squad now faces a race against time to unlock consistent Sunday performance. Lawson is confident the answers are within reach, insisting the fix involves "trimming" the race car rather than a wholesale redesign. If Racing Bulls can bridge that gap, it could yet turn its qualifying potential into the kind of points haul needed to overhaul Alpine.