Racing Bulls equalled its best-ever result of sixth place in 2025, but started the new campaign with plenty of question marks. As one of F1’s smaller teams, the huge regulation change was a big stress test and its closely-fought battle for sixth saw it start its 2026 car development later than several direct competitors.
Then there was the huge unknown of its brand-new power unit developed by Red Bull Ford Powertrains, which it shares with parent team Red Bull, and the rookie factor in the team fielding the only newcomer of 2026, teenager Arvid Lindblad.
The good
Heading into the summer break, Racing Bulls finds itself atop the midfield with its upgraded VCARB 03, having overhauled Alpine after the final weekend before the shutdown in Budapest. The Anglo-Italian amassed 66 points to end the first half of the season in an unprecedented fifth place, earning it a B grade.
The season didn’t start that way, however. Racing Bulls showed well in Australia, with debut points for eight-placed Lindblad, but as Alpine sorted itself out the Enstone squad leapt clear thanks to four consecutive top seven spots for Gasly.
But a crucial floor upgrade in Montreal, the fifth round of the rejigged 2026 calendar, saw Racing Bulls take a major step that turned the team into the most reliable midfield performer as Alpine faded. Since Canada, at least one Racing Bulls car has reached Q3 at every round and the team scored double points on five occasions, with one of its drivers finishing outside the top 10 just once in Belgium.
A solid package, thanks to a better-than-expected power unit, has allowed Liam Lawson to put his best foot forward, with the New Zealander ninth in the standings as he finally gets the stability of a full season at the same team. On the other side of the garage, Lindblad has impressed from start to finish and has run Lawson close on several occasions, leading to a few close intra-team battles in Austria and Belgium.
Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls
Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images
The bad
There’s little to report in this section, as holding down fifth is about as much as can be expected from Racing Bulls. There is every chance that further upgrades from Alpine after the summer will turn the tables once more, but even equalling sixth would be a positive result.
What the team will have to navigate is its two drivers taking their friendly but competitive rivalry to the next level, against the background of the squad’s mission to train young drivers for Red Bull. With junior driver Nikita Tsolov waiting in the wings and the Bulgarian teenager impressing in F2, the pressure on both drivers to perform hasn’t gone anywhere, with or without hard-nosed former advisor Helmut Marko overseeing the junior programme.
Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images
What they’re saying
Alan Permane, team principal: “We were in our own championship fight last year for that sixth place, and that was very important to us, so we started a little bit late on the 2026 car. We felt the first races were going to be a bit of a struggle. We brought a very large upgrade for Melbourne, and we’ve continued to upgrade the car through the season. I think what really switched the car on was the floor we brought to Montreal.
“The second part of what’s really helped our season is finding the race pace. We had a very nice car in Canada in qualifying, but it wasn’t so good in the race. Monaco was very similar, Barcelona very similar. What Austria and Silverstone have shown is that we’ve fixed that. It’s a combination of what has been delivered from the wind tunnel, design and production, and a little bit of the way the guys are running the car at the track.”
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