Liam Lawson believes Racing Bulls is well-placed to make a major step forward in Formula 1 in 2026, capitalising on a previous weakness.
Lawson and Racing Bulls have enjoyed a competitive start to 2026, with the New-Zealander scoring points in two of the opening three races.
The VCARB 03 looks to be a strong midfield car and is able to challenge for points, but will struggle should it fall behind in the development race.
This is an area where the team fell behind in 2025, a factor not lost on Lawson, caused by its upgrade strategy.
“The main thing is going to be on the development side for teams, and I think you see really big differences when you have a car that’s early on [in the regulation cycle],” Lawson told media, including Motorsport Week.
“Last year, we would bring fewer upgrades because we were finding it harder to find differences, and those upgrades would maybe be a few points of downforce, and you might find a few hundredths of a second, and that would be a solid upgrade.
Liam Lawson reveals more upgrades planned for Racing Bulls
For 2026, Lawson is hopeful of a turnaround in this area, but is under no illusions of the challenge facing him and Racing Bulls.
“This year, we are expecting to bring much bigger things throughout the year, and the rate of that will hopefully be faster as well, so that side of things is what we are going to be chasing the hardest.
“And that comes down to the hard work we’re doing on-track, the work we’re doing in the simulator, trying to learn how to optimise those things, and that is the biggest focus at this early point in the year.
“We’ve done a good job so far, obviously touch wood, but reliability has been pretty strong, especially compared to some other teams.
“Strategy-wise, we’ve done a good job, and the decision-making has been pretty good, and we’ve been able to extract everything out of our package each weekend, and possibly more than we should have, so it has been positive.”
Lawson’s hopes for 2026 centre on Racing Bulls nailing its upgrade strategy, which is easier said than done. However, settling into a more stable year than 2025, he is definitely a driver to watch as the season picks up again in Miami.
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