Racing Bulls CEO ‘impressed’ by what Arvid Lindblad told him while watching Liam Lawson on track

Follow us on Google Discover

Arvid Lindblad will become the latest Red Bull junior to debut in F1 for Racing Bulls in 2026, having replaced Isack Hadjar as Liam Lawson’s teammate for the season ahead.

Racing Bulls will start an F1 season with a different driver line-up for the fifth year in a row in 2026, after Red Bull decided to promote Hadjar to their main team. Hadjar has replaced Yuki Tsunoda, with the latter racer moving to a reserve driver role for both of the Red Bull outfits.

Lawson will now assume the role of team leader at Racing Bulls alongside rookie Lindblad in 2026, which is only the former’s second full season on the F1 grid. The campaign ahead will also see Lawson start a year at Racing Bulls for the first time, after opening 2025 at Red Bull.

Lindblad is graduating to Formula 1 with Racing Bulls after just one season in F2 in 2025. The 18-year-old produced an up-and-down rookie campaign in Formula 2, but he convinced Red Bull to award him an F1 seat with his promising showings over his three FP1 outings in 2025.

Arvid Lindblad ‘impressed’ Peter Bayer with how he anticipated the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix

Lindblad also blew Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer away with how he assessed the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix as events unfolded in November. The British-Swedish prospect watched the race at the Lusail International Circuit with Bayer just days before Red Bull confirmed his F1 seat.

READ MORE: Who is 2026 Racing Bulls driver Arvid Lindblad? Everything you need to know

Bayer has very high hopes for Lindblad in F1, having noticed how well he anticipated events while watching Lawson secure P9 in the Qatar GP from P12 on the grid. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen won at Lusail after McLaren’s errant strategy cost Oscar Piastri in the Qatar GP.

“He’s the same raw diamond, like Isack,” Bayer told RacingNews365. “We see similar raw pace [and] similar mental capacity to analyse, to understand.

“He was with me in Qatar. He sat next to me during the race and, honestly, I was deeply impressed by how he kept anticipating what was happening. He was very calm, very focused [and] very sharp. He’s got everything he needs.

“He is somebody who can quickly adapt to a track, even if he doesn’t know it, and he has fantastic race pace. We’re all really looking forward to working with him, to take that raw diamond, to polish it and, by the end of the season, we will have another crown jewel.”

Liam Lawson held off Yuki Tsunoda for P9 and P10 in the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix

Hadjar was classified in P18 in the final order for the 2025 Qatar GP, having retired from the event after he had completed more than 90% of the race distance. The Frenchman suffered a puncture on Lap 56/57 while running in P5 when the front wing on his Racing Bulls broke.

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

How would you rate Liam Lawson’s 2025 season out of 10?

Comment

Like or Comment

Have your say Sign-in now for free

It added another turn to a busy Qatar GP, which saw F1 have to mandate a maximum 25-lap distance for every set of Pirelli tyres due to the stresses created by the Lusail circuit. Hadjar spent most of his race fighting Mercedes ace George Russell, while Lawson fought Tsunoda.

Lawson of Racing Bulls finished the 2025 Qatar GP just 1.697 seconds clear of Red Bull rival Tsunoda for P9 and P10, having fought all race. Tsunoda struggled to put Lawson under any regular pressure, and the latter struggled to improve his position while stuck in a DRS train.