Liam Lawson Thrives in Standout F1 Campaign with Racing Bulls

Liam Lawson believes his impressive 2026 campaign is the product of both personal growth and a Racing Bulls team that has found its rhythm, with the Kiwi enjoying the strongest form of his Formula 1 career.

What happened?

Liam Lawson has emerged as one of the standout performers in the midfield, scoring points in all but three races and climbing to ninth in the championship after finishing eighth in Hungary. Racing Bulls’ rise to fifth in the constructors’ standings has mirrored his own progress.

Why it matters for Liam Lawson

Lawson has twice matched his career-best finish of sixth, in Monaco and at Silverstone, and he feels those strong weekends shared a common theme. "We had some really good races - Monaco was very, very strong, Austria was great, Silverstone was great, but they were all honestly quite similar in the way that we built up through the weekend, and I really feel like we extracted everything out of the car each time," he said.

What comes next?

Despite now being the highest-placed driver outside Formula 1’s leading four teams, Lawson insists his target remains simple. "There’s no specific place I’m aiming for, I just want to keep doing what we’re doing and see where it takes us," he said.

Lawson has been enjoying the strongest form of his Formula 1 career, and he credits personal growth and a cohesive team effort for his success. "Naturally, the more experience you have, it’s going to be like that. Obviously the results have been better this year and so that’s going to make you feel in a good place," he told F1.com.

The season did not begin with such confidence. Like many teams adapting to Formula 1’s new regulations, Racing Bulls initially struggled to understand its VCARB 03. "The car was difficult at the start of the year so I definitely wasn’t confident about how the year would go, but just very focused on trying to make sure I had a good understanding of the new regulations and how to extract everything out of them," Lawson admitted.

Learning from every weekend

Lawson has been learning from every weekend, and he believes that's key to his success. "We had some really good races - Monaco was very, very strong, Austria was great, Silverstone was great, but they were all honestly quite similar in the way that we built up through the weekend, and I really feel like we extracted everything out of the car each time," he said.

Hungary offered another example of that resilience, with Lawson bouncing back from a difficult Belgian weekend to score points again. He also believes teammate Arvid Lindblad has helped Racing Bulls maintain a clear technical direction. "Yeah, honestly I think the team’s in a very, very good place," Lawson said. "Arvid’s obviously very quick and it’s quite similar [between us], probably a similar feeling in the car that I have. That’s probably helped as well, helped the team in the direction we’ve been going, so I think that’s been very, very strong."

Key takeaways:

• Liam Lawson has scored points in all but three races in the 2026 season.
• He has climbed to ninth in the championship after finishing eighth in Hungary.
• Racing Bulls has risen to fifth in the constructors’ standings.
• Lawson credits personal growth and a cohesive team effort for his success.

Stats table:

Liam Lawson is enjoying the strongest form of his Formula 1 career, and he's got his sights set on continuing his success with Racing Bulls.