Liam Lawson spotted cornering differently from every other F1 driver in Bahrain testing

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Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson was seen taking a unique approach to cornering during pre-season testing in Bahrain.

Liam Lawson is starting a Formula 1 season with Racing Bulls for the first time after three years of inconsistency and uncertainty regarding his racing career.

Although Lawson is finally starting an F1 campaign with the same team that he ended the previous one with, the 2026 regulation changes mean the New Zealander still has plenty of adaptation to do.

Red Bull’s new power unit is in the back of the Racing Bulls car, and Lawson has already been told to ‘stabilise’ by team boss Alan Permane after an up-and-down start to pre-season testing.

Jack Doohan spotted a braking issue with Racing Bulls’ car while watching rookie Arvid Lindblad trackside.

Journalist Scott Mitchell-Malm has now shared what Lawson was doing differently going into corners than all of his fellow F1 drivers.

READ MORE: Who is Racing Bulls F1 driver Liam Lawson? Everything you need to know

Liam Lawson was taking a ‘shallower’ line during Bahrain test to avoid unsettling the rear

Mitchell-Malm was reflecting on the Racing Bulls performance on The Race F1 Podcast and explained: “I think that they’ve clearly got a lot of potential in terms of what the engine’s capable of.

“And the car’s not bad when it’s going quickly, I think it’s just not easy to drive. And I wonder if the thing you noticed on traction might be linked to something I saw yesterday when Liam Lawson was driving.

“Down at turn 11, the medium speed corner, ultimately, when they’re going through it, but very fast on approach.

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“You could see that he was taking a much shallower line into the corner than almost anybody else, and it was almost like he was having to preload the car a little bit and just ease it into the corner slightly.

“Take the shallower line, so then he didn’t have to do his big and initial steering input, which would unsettle the rear.

“It was manifesting his understeer on the exit, but I think it was actually a rear instability problem on entry.”

READ MORE: All to know about Racing Bulls from team principal to Red Bull affiliation

Arvid Lindblad highlights Racing Bulls are still trying to get on top of new Red Bull power unit

Mitchell-Malm’s colleague Edd Straw took a closer look at how the Racing Bulls car was improving as the two-week test went on.

He said: “The car has improved, but even at the end of running, I was watching Lindblad.

“He was doing some quick laps, but still, for example, in through turns nine, 10, so it’s that curved approach into the left-hander onto the back straight, it’s a tricky braking zone, but I watched him for a few laps and thought he still looks like he’s being a little bit cautious.

“And we’ve seen this from both of those drivers, Lindblad may be a bit more, to be expected, he’s on a very steep learning curve.

“And he just looks like he just needs to lean on it a bit more, and then he came through on a couple of laps, leaned on it more, and he had moments and ended up wide.

“I don’t think they’re quite as on top of the way the power unit is influencing the car dynamically.”

Lindblad outpaced Lawson across testing, which might not be representative of anything once the season starts in Australia, but will give the teenager a much-needed confidence boost.

Both drivers will know that there are a handful of Red Bull juniors gunning for their seats going into 2027.

Lawson, in particular, needs to get up to speed quickly to shift focus away from him and potentially catch the eye of other manufacturers in the paddock as his chances of ever being promoted into a Red Bull seat again seem very slim.