Liam Lawson has delivered another impressive qualifying performance for the Racing Bulls F1 Team at the 2026 F1 Austrian GP. Navigating the demanding Red Bull Ring, the New Zealander secured a valuable P9 on the grid for the race, finishing the session ahead of his teammate Arvid Lindblad, who qualified P10.
Speaking in the print media pen following the Qualifying, Lawson expressed satisfaction with the team’s general outcome. He noted that having both cars in Q3 was the main goal for the afternoon. By achieving this, the team successfully positioned themselves ahead of the midfield.
While acknowledging that the front-running teams still maintain a noticeable performance advantage, he emphasised that the team achieved what they set out to do.
”Yeah, it’s good, it’s good. Honestly, to have both cars in Q3 and ahead of the midfield is pretty much what we set out to do today. The front guys are definitely a little bit further ahead, so yeah, happy with Quali, but I’m sure it’s going to be a hard race tomorrow.”
Lawson on maximising the current package
Despite the good Qualifying session, the Racing Bull driver remained grounded regarding the outlook for the main race. He recognised that the team is concerned about their pace compared to competitors who have shown better long-run speed, particularly Alpine last time out.
However, Lawson confirmed that the team has put significant effort into analysing and resolving their recent weaknesses over the past week, aiming to ensure a more competitive car at the 2026 F1 Austrian GP.
”We’re definitely concerned. I mean, they’ve been very strong in the race, but we’ve definitely obviously put some effort in from last week to try and improve that. Obviously, I’m sure it’s going to be a tough race, but we’ll see what we get tomorrow.”
When asked about the technical differences between the Racing Bulls package and the leading contenders, Lawson identified a clear area for development.
He explained that the team is doing an excellent job on maximising their existing package. However they are simply lacking downforce, which is necessary to challenge the top teams consistently over a full race.
”Speed, lap time, downforce, that’s literally it. The rest, we’re sort of maximising our package at the moment for sure, which is good, but yeah, we’re just missing some downforce to the front teams.”
Resolving technical issues at the 2026 F1 Austrian GP
At the beginning of the weekend Lawson sat out Free Practice 1 to allow test driver Ayumu Iwasa to gain experience in the car. Despite the loss of track time, the New Zealander noted that his transition into the weekend remained smooth.
He clarified that he avoided the technical struggles regarding energy management and power delivery that challenged the team during FP1.
During his Free Practice sessions, Lawson had some brake issues, which were successfully fixed by the team. By resolving these problems, Lawson was able to unlock additional performance during Qualifying, laying the groundwork for the race.
”Yeah, for us it’s been honestly, personally, I’ve not really had too many issues this weekend. Obviously, I missed P1, so I would say if there was any issues, there were probably more of them happening in P1, but for me it’s been smooth through the weekend.
”Yeah, we’ve managed to solve that today and found a bit of performance.”
