Teamwork makes the dream work
Formula One, and all motorsport, is unique in the fact that your teammate is your biggest adversary.
With that on board, the brewing situation between Lawson and Lindblad will need to be addressed by Racing Bulls.
For the past three races, Lindblad has given some kind of indication he’s ready to challenge his senior teammate, and lead Racing Bulls’ charge towards fifth in the constructors championship.
Liam Lawson (left) with teammate Arvid Lindblad. Photo / Red Bull
In Austria, he appeared to ignore team orders to hold position and attacked Lawson coming out of the pits. At Silverstone, Lindblad was heard telling his race engineer that he was lapping faster than Lawson, and should be allowed to overtake.
Then, in Belgium, Lindblad forced Lawson wide into turn six to complete an overtake, and was investigated by race stewards as a result. While that investigation didn’t result in a penalty, team bosses will undoubtedly have an eye on it.
On Saturday (NZT), team boss Alan Permane was asked about managing his two drivers.
“It’s good to have two quick guys, that’s for sure,” he said. “I’m sure there’ll be some management needed.
“They’re incredibly close. If you look this morning [Free Practice One], their ideal laps are separated by milliseconds.
“It’s going to be nip and tuck all year, I’m sure.”
As Red Bull’s feeder outfit, Racing Bulls does have an element of jeopardy that most other teams don’t. Regardless of who drives for the team, its pairing are always doing their best to push for promotion to the senior setup.
But with three flashpoints in the past three races, there needs to be some sort of intervention before one of Lawson or Lindblad commits the cardinal sin of motorsport – taking out your teammate.
The upgrade
It’s unclear as of yet just how much of Lindblad’s fortunes this weekend came off the back of the upgrade he received, as Racing Bulls introduced a new cooling update, as part of a new package that also saw improvements to the sidepods, roll hoop and rear wing.
While it wasn’t ideal that only one car was given such a major boost, Lindblad more than took his chance to come home for a fifth-straight grand prix points finish, and cut the gap between himself and Lawson to 17 points in the drivers championship.
As the only newcomer in this year’s championship, it’s not a long list before Lindblad takes the title of best rookie. However, he has now entrenched himself in the midfield battle.
This race in particular gave Racing Bulls – and Red Bull, by proxy – the first glimpse of whether Lindblad can lead a team, an audition he more than passed over the course of the weekend.
To his credit, Lawson did everything he could to stay with the faster cars – including a first-lap overtake on his teammate – but over a race distance, these things do work themselves out.
Now, it’s up to Lawson to make the most of a level playing field, if and when it arrives in Hungary next week.
Liam Lawson on the track at the Belgian Grand Prix. Photo / Red Bull
Millions at stake
With Lindblad’s two points, the race for fifth place in the constructors championship between Racing Bulls and Alpine is dead even, as we approach the halfway point of the season.
Despite both being on 61 points, Racing Bulls have clearly been the better and more consistent of the two teams. It’s only Pierre Gasly’s podium finish in Monaco, adding 15 of Alpine’s 61 points, that even makes it a contest at this point.
After finishing sixth last year, the best result in Racing Bulls’ history, the team are exceptionally poised to go one better in 2026. Alpine, on the other hand, have done incredibly well to even be in the conversation after finishing last, 12 months ago.
Aside from the glory of the “best of the rest” tag, though, fifth place also brings a huge financial incentive.
With prize money handed out on an incremental basis, depending on where a team finishes in the constructors, fifth place will earn a team a cool $178 million. In comparison, sixth place will net around $162m for the team.
As Racing Bulls’ senior driver, Lawson’s role in the race for fifth is arguably the most responsibility he’s had in his short career. Last year, he played his part in bringing home more than $150m for finishing sixth, an improvement of close to $30m after taking eighth in 2024.
And even if Lawson’s limited commercial backing from New Zealand will be a factor in determining his future on the grid, his results – and the money that come with them – do more than enough talking.
Liam Lawson and the Racing Bulls team are chasing a $178 million payday. Photo / Red Bull
Tsolov threat remains
It’s the storyline that won’t go away.
While speculation of Bulgarian teenager and Formula Two championship leader taking Lawson’s place at Racing Bulls was shut down by the team, there were again questions to team boss Permane.
The 19-year-old now has six wins across the first 14 races of the Formula Two season, and holds a 27-point advantage in the championship.
In all fairness, Racing Bulls’ response has always been that nothing has been decided for next year, rather than outright rejecting that Tsolov has been guaranteed a seat.
“He’s next in line, I think it is fair to say,” Permane told media. “When that will be, I don’t know, honestly.
“It’s not an untruth to say we’re not thinking about it at the moment. He’s there, he’s doing his job, we’re doing our job, and we’ll make a call if and when he comes up to Racing Bulls later this year.”
Formula Two form isn’t exactly a guarantee of Red Bull promotion – Lawson was overlooked for finishing third in his final year, while Lindblad was elevated after finishing sixth.
But if things keep up like this, Red Bull and Racing Bulls could be forced into a decision sooner rather than later.
Max on the mend?
For all the noise of Max Verstappen’s impending exit from the sport, this weekend saw alarm bells ring a little quieter.
It’s no secret that the four-time world champion’s contract with Red Bull contains an exit clause, understood to be that he can leave if he sits outside the championship’s top two at the summer break. After Silverstone, that’s mathematically impossible.
However, before the race weekend, Verstappen’s longtime manager, Raymond Vermeulen, told Dutch media that his client intends to honour his contract, which runs to the end of 2028.
Links to Mercedes and McLaren seem to have gone very quiet all of a sudden, perhaps indicating neither side can find room for the greatest driver of this generation.
Either way, we could be in for some very interesting stories about Verstappen’s future over the next few weeks.
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.