Liam Lawson admits he must take a step back to stop making the same ‘mistake’ in 2026

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Liam Lawson wants to eradicate the mistakes he keeps making in qualifying by trying to drive the 2026 Racing Bulls VCARB 03 like his last ground-effect era car from 2025.

Formula 1 introduced its biggest regulatory overhaul in history this year, and Lawson admits he is still trying to understand how he can get the most out of the Racing Bulls VCARB 03. F1 welcomed new power unit, chassis and aerodynamic regulations at the same time this term.

The Racing Bulls VCARB 03 has been one of the best midfield cars so far this year, and has also proven to be a match for the Red Bull RB22 at times. Lawson rose from P13 to P7 in the Shanghai Sprint to finish ahead of Haas rival Oliver Bearman and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Lawson also held off Red Bull ace Isack Hadjar for P7 in the Chinese Grand Prix last time out. The 24-year-old led the man with whom he shared the Racing Bulls garage last term home with a 6.659s margin between them in Shanghai to match Verstappen’s points tally this year.

Red Bull demoted Liam Lawson back to Racing Bulls exactly one year ago 🗓️ How do you rate his last 12 months in F1 out of 10? 🤔

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Liam Lawson knows he must stop pushing as hard in qualifying with Racing Bulls’ 2026 car

Yet while Lawson qualified P8 for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, the Kiwi views qualifying as the most challenging part of learning the 2026 F1 cars. He only managed P13 in Sprint Qualifying in Shanghai and just P14 in qualifying for the Chinese GP during round two.

READ MORE: How to watch the 2026 F1 Japanese Grand Prix with qualifying and race times

Lawson feels it is easy to make a mistake in qualifying by trying to “overdrive” the car, having been able to push the limits last year in the VCARB 02 during the final season of the ground-effect era. Now, Lawson feels he needs to take a step back in order to produce the best time.

“I would say it’s quite easy to overdrive,” Lawson said, via quotes by Auto Action. “I think in last year’s car, you went into qualifying and you tried to make quite a big step.

“Obviously, with how much downforce the cars had, you gained grip and you started attacking the car in qualifying.

“Obviously, you can still do it and get it wrong and overdrive, but it was definitely an exciting factor going into qualifying when your car is like, you’re trying to attack it.

“But I think this year, the hardest thing is it’s very easy to overstep that and use too much, and basically make a mistake.

“I think this year, pretty much all quali, like Melbourne quali for me, it took me all the way to Q3 on a used tyre to actually just put a lap together, because all the laps before that I just kept trying to attack and [was] basically making a mistake, and actually just bringing it back.

“So, it’s definitely a different thing that we’re having to get used to.”

Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer highlighted qualifying as an area for Lawson to improve ahead of the 2026 F1 season, having struggled to match what Hadjar could produce. While Hadjar reached Q3 16 times through the 24 rounds last term, Lawson only reached Q3 eight times.

Additionally, Lawson endured seven Q1 exits in 2025 compared to Hadjar’s two, and two of the Kiwi’s Q1 exits last year came during his two rounds with Red Bull. Lawson has already enjoyed a stronger start in 2026, with a Q3 outing in Australia and Q2 appearance in China.

But Lawson only just reached Q3 in Melbourne, having been 0.159s faster than Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg during Q2. Similarly, Lawson only just advanced from Q1 in China, having been 0.178s faster than Williams’ Carlos Sainz. He found 0.374s between Q1 and Q2 in Shanghai.