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A recent report has detailed how Liam Lawson’s data from the Chinese Grand Prix has confirmed that Racing Bulls currently hold an engine advantage over their frontrunning ‘parent’ F1 team, Red Bull Racing.
With two rounds of the 2026 F1 season now in the books, we’ve been given a clearer picture of the grid’s pecking order in the new era of technical regulations.
There is no doubt that Mercedes are currently the benchmark. Toto Wolff has enjoyed watching his Silver Arrows of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli secure back-to-back one-twos, while Ferrari have asserted themselves as second best.
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Things get a little hazier below the top two. McLaren’s ultimate performance is still largely unknown due to their lack of racing, while it has become clear at Red Bull that they won’t be fighting amongst the frontrunners for the top step of the podium anytime soon.
The Austrian constructor currently occupy fifth place in the constructors’ standings after two rounds, joint on points with their stablemates, Racing Bulls.
While Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar have both missed out on a points-scoring finish due to their own respective retirements, the Faenza-based outfit’s Chinese GP actually confirmed that they are a lot closer to Red Bull than what was first thought.
The Chinese Grand Prix confirmed that Racing Bulls currently have an engine advantage over Red Bull
According to a report from Motorsport Italia, Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad’s data from the race weekend in Shanghai confirmed that the Racing Bulls VCARB03 is ‘one of the most difficult cars to overtake’ on the grid due to its impressive straight-line speed.
An underlying characteristic of the new Red Bull-Ford power unit is that it favours maintaining a higher top speed in the final section of long straights, whereas other engines suffer more deceleration as its electrical power starts to dwindle.
What’s more, the speed trap data from various sessions over the weekend in China clearly portrays an advantage for Racing Bulls over their frontrunning ‘parent’ company, Red Bull.
During the opening practice session on Friday, Lawson’s top speed came in at 330kph, a 13kph advantage over Red Bull’s 317kph. In fact, Verstappen’s best effort put the RB22 in as the third-worst car for straight-line speed.
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This was echoed in the speed trap data from Sprint qualifying, too. Again, the RB22 was the third-slowest F1 car on the straights, while Racing Bulls enjoyed an 8kph advantage with the joint-second highest top speed out of all the cars on the grid, according to Formula Data Analysis.
While Red Bull are showing a clear deficiency in downforce to the rest of the frontrunning F1 teams, they do seem to make up ground on their stablemates when it comes to cornering efficiency.
This means that Racing Bulls aren’t necessarily more competitive than Red Bull, but it does open up the possibility of being able to secure some strong results if Lawson and Lindblad are able to gain track position in the early stages of a Grand Prix.
Liam Lawson also showcased some expert tyre management at the Chinese Grand Prix
This was evident from Lawson’s ability to secure points-paying positions in both the Sprint race and Grand Prix in Shanghai.
It marked the first world championship points for the New Zealander in 2026, which was praised by Jolyon Palmer as the ‘perfect response’ to Lindblad beating him at the season-opener in Melbourne.
Lawson saw the chequered flag in P7 in both races at the Shanghai International Circuit, and one aspect of his race craft caught the eye of some spectators.
F1 fans hailed Lawson for his tyre management in Shanghai after he took home six points from a one-stop strategy that saw him cross the finish line on 47-lap old tyres.
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