Racing Bulls have finished eighth in the Teams\u2019 Championship for the last two seasons \u2013 and it is the position they occupy just over halfway through an up-and-down 2025 campaign. From eye-catching displays to missed opportunities and a driver change to a new team boss, there is plenty to review at Red Bull\u2019s sister outfit. Here is their half term report\u2026<\/p>\n
Best finish<\/p>\n
Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson \u2013 6th in Monaco and Austria<\/p>\n
Racing Bulls made a rapid start to 2025 \u2013 at least in terms of one-lap pace. Yuki Tsunoda<\/a> charged to fifth during Qualifying in Australia<\/a>, while both he and rookie team mate Isack Hadjar<\/a> made Q3 in China. However, strategic errors and incidents<\/a> meant they left both events empty-handed.<\/p>\n It was not until Japan, where Red Bull sent a struggling Liam Lawson<\/a> back to Racing Bulls and pulled Tsunoda the other way, that the first points were logged, with Hadjar again making the pole position shootout and going on to take the chequered flag in eighth place.<\/p>\n Since then, both Hadjar and Lawson have contributed to Racing Bulls\u2019 tally of 45 points \u2013 their equal-best results coming at the Monaco<\/a> and Austrian<\/a> Grands Prix, where the Frenchman and New Zealander achieved standout top-six finishes respectively.<\/p>\n Qualifying head-to-head<\/p>\n Hadjar 9-3 Lawson Hadjar had the measure of Lawson during their early weekends as team mates and soon pulled out a lead in their Qualifying head-to-head. Solid gains from Lawson have steadied the ship in recent events, though, with the score reading 2-2 from the last four weekends.<\/p>\n At the start of the season, Hadjar and Tsunoda tied 1-1 over the two full Qualifying sessions they spent as team mates \u2013 Tsunoda via his eye-catching effort at Melbourne\u2019s Albert Park and Hadjar with his P7 grid slot at the Shanghai International Circuit.<\/p>\n Race head-to-head<\/p>\n Hadjar 8-3 Lawson It is a similar story when it comes to Hadjar and Lawson\u2019s race day head-to-head, which reads 8-3 in favour of last year\u2019s F2 runner-up. Given that both drivers retired from a rain-hit British Grand Prix due to incidents<\/a>, the Silverstone event could not count towards the overall score.<\/p>\n Hadjar and Tsunoda, meanwhile, also went 1-1 across their two Grands Prix \u2013 Hadjar failing to start his debut race in Australia with a formation lap spin<\/a>, before bouncing back to beat Tsunoda (who was hindered by a front wing issue) in China.<\/p>\n Best moment<\/p>\n While their P6 finishes in Monaco and Austria gave Hadjar and Lawson cause for celebration on a personal level, this year\u2019s visit to the streets of Monte Carlo also brought a particularly strong display of teamwork from Racing Bulls\u2019 line-up.<\/p>\n With both drivers starting in the top 10, Lawson successfully backed the midfield pack up during a mandated two-stop race<\/a> around the Principality, keeping a queue of cars behind to give Hadjar a clear run to sixth \u2013 while completing a double points finish in P8 himself.<\/p>\n Worst moment<\/p>\n Changeable weather at Silverstone presented a massive chance for F1\u2019s midfield teams to spring a surprise, but Racing Bulls\u2019 hopes were dashed by Lawson being spun out on the first lap and Hadjar later crashing into the back of Kimi Antonelli in the worst of the rain.<\/p>\n It was a painful double DNF for the operation, whose championship rivals Kick Sauber, Alpine, Aston Martin and Williams all scored \u2013 Hulkenberg\u2019s incredible run from 19th on the grid to a maiden F1 podium showing what could have been possible on another day.<\/p>\n Going forward<\/p>\n Following on from the Lawson\/Tsunoda driver swap, there has also been a recent change of team boss at Racing Bulls, with Laurent Mekies getting called up by Red Bull to replace Christian Horner and experienced engineer Alan Permane filling the void.<\/p>\n Permane has taken the reins of a factory that produced a very solid and compliant car in the VCARB 02, as underlined by Lawson<\/a> following his brief stint in Red Bull\u2019s RB21, with the priority being to \u201ckeep that trajectory\u201d while ensuring no more opportunities slip by.<\/p>\n \u201cI just want to make sure we\u2019re getting the best out of the cars the designers and the production team have given us to race, and if we can do that, then we\u2019ll have a good last half of the season,\u201d Permane recently told F1.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Racing Bulls\u2019 last three seasons (which include previous RB and AlphaTauri guises) read eighth, eighth and ninth when it comes to the Teams\u2019 Championship standings \u2013 2021 marking the last time they broke into the top six thanks to some consistently strong scoring.<\/p>\n
\nHadjar 1-1 Tsunoda<\/p>\n
\nHadjar 1-1 Tsunoda<\/p>\n