Liam Lawson: Racing Bulls had 'no real idea' about VCARB 03 pace at season start

Liam Lawson has admitted Racing Bulls began the 2026 Formula 1 season with genuine uncertainty about where the VCARB 03 stood under the new regulations. Yet after 11 rounds and heading into the summer break, the New Zealander sits ninth in the drivers' standings on 43 points, with the Italian team holding fifth in the constructors' championship on 66 points—a return that few inside the Faenza factory would have predicted when the rules changed.

Why it matters:

Racing Bulls' rapid turnaround shows how quickly a team can find its footing once the right development direction is identified. For a midfield outfit that entered the year genuinely unsure of its pace under the 2026 rules, this early success proves that a difficult start doesn't have to define a season. More importantly, the string of strong results keeps the entire organization motivated and pushing hard in the tight development race.

The details:

• Lawson told the official F1 website that the team had "no real idea" about its competitiveness at the start of the year, and the car was difficult to drive initially, leaving him focused simply on understanding the new regulations.
• The season opener in Australia offered little encouragement, with Lawson finishing P13 while rookie teammate Arvid Lindblad managed to score points on his F1 debut.
• The breakthrough came one week later in Shanghai, where Lawson finished seventh in both the sprint and grand prix, netting eight points and establishing a setup direction that has worked "very, very well" ever since.
• That Chinese Grand Prix weekend set the tone for a run of eight points-scoring finishes in 11 races, including P6 results in Monaco and at Silverstone.

What's next:

With the summer break offering a chance to reset, Racing Bulls will aim to carry this hard-won momentum into the second half of the campaign. Lawson now believes the team has a solid understanding of the 2026 regulations and how to extract everything from the VCARB 03, suggesting more strong results could follow if the Faenza squad continues on its current development path.