Racing Bulls chief tells Liam Lawson to ‘eliminate’ one ‘inexplicable’ thing he keeps saying

Follow us on Google Discover

Liam Lawson astounded Alan Permane with his flashes of “genius” during the 2025 F1 season, but the Racing Bulls chief sees a flaw that the Kiwi has to “eliminate” in 2026.

Permane stepped up to replace Laurent Mekies as the Racing Bulls team principal last July, after the latter joined Red Bull when their sister squad fired Christian Horner. The Briton had acted as Racing Bulls’ racing director since he re-joined the Faenza natives in January 2024.

Lawson achieved his best result of the 2025 F1 season under Permane with a career-best P5 in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where he also registered a career-best P3 in qualifying. The 23-year-old also impressed Permane with his performances in Austria and Hungary last season.

Racing Bulls’ front suspension upgrade at the Red Bull Ring helped Lawson get his year back on track after his demotion from Red Bull two rounds into the term. Also, Lawson beat Max Verstappen on merit in the Hungarian Grand Prix for P8 and P9 due to his one-stop strategy.

Prove me wrong: Liam Lawson can show he deserves another chance at Red Bull

Comment

Like or Comment

Have your say Sign-in now for free

Alan Permane wants Liam Lawson to ‘eliminate’ his cluelessness about his Q1 exits

Permane now wants to see Lawson build on his 2025 performances in 2026 and “eliminate” his habit of exiting qualifying during Q1 without understanding why. Lawson suffered seven Q1 exits last season, of which he endured two with Red Bull and then five with Racing Bulls.

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

“I see some genius in Liam,” Permane told RACER. “I see some really, really good stuff. Some amazing drives last year, [like] P3 in Baku qualifying. In a tricky qualifying and P3, because he was quick, but also because a lot of other people screwed up.

“Vegas, probably the most difficult qualifying of the year. Low downforce, wet, walls everywhere [and] low grip, P6. So, there is some really, really good stuff there, and some terrific races.

“Spa was brilliant from him. Austria, he drove a brilliant race. Hungary, he drove brilliantly [and] he beat Max in Hungary, in an out-and-out race.

“So, what I’m looking for from him is to keep that going and just eliminate, or work on, the ones where he inexplicably goes out in Q1, and comes back and says, ‘I don’t know what happened,’ and then, of course, we dig through it.

“But pre-empting that, so it doesn’t happen at all, and just lifting those not-so-good results, lifting those up. I don’t necessarily think we need to lift the top level. If we can just eliminate the bottom ones to start with, that’s what we focus on.

“I absolutely know he’s up for it. We had a long conversation at the end of last year. He really gets it, and he just wants to work harder on that sort of thing.”

Isack Hadjar beat Liam Lawson 16-6 in their 2025 F1 Grand Prix qualifying head-to-head

Have Red Bull improved Racing Bulls’ image with their rebrands over the years?

Let us know why in the comments!

Comment

Like or Comment

Have your say Sign-in now for free

Lawson held off Verstappen for P8 and P9 in the Hungarian GP, despite the Red Bull driver’s fresher tyres after he made two stops. The Racing Bulls gem enjoyed a coming-of-age race, as he withstood the four-time F1 champion’s pressure before opening a 3.194-second lead.

But qualifying was often Lawson’s downfall during 2025, with only Lance Stroll (15), Esteban Ocon (13), Gabriel Bortoleto, Nico Hulkenberg, Franco Colapinto (12) and Pierre Gasly (10) enduring more Q1 exits. Alex Albon and Oliver Bearman also bowed out in Q1 seven times.

Yuki Tsunoda also registered seven Q1 exits after he replaced Lawson at Red Bull in a direct seat swap. Tsunoda has now lost his seat at Red Bull for 2026 to Isack Hadjar, who only had two Q1 exits during his rookie F1 season with Racing Bulls in Italy (P16) and America (crash).

Permane is not alone in wanting to now see Lawson improve his single-lap speed in the 2026 term, either. Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer has told Lawson to improve his “qualifying pace” in 2026, as well, after he was beaten 16-6 by Hadjar in their 2025 Grand Prix head-to-head.