Formula 1 News: Racing Bulls team thoughts during the April Break

Alan Permane – Team Principal of Racing Bulls Team

Priorities during the break

“We’ve got a few things in the pipeline. We (Racing Bulls Team) had a decent upgrade planned for Bahrain, which we’ll now take to Miami, and another planned for Montreal, so we’ll effectively have a quick double upgrade. We’ll introduce one and then replace it straight away, as we can’t bring everything at once or move the Montreal upgrade forward.

With freight back from Japan, we’ve also taken the opportunity to carry out some unplanned work on the chassis – work that wasn’t scheduled until the end of this flyaway sequence. Some areas of the business have been working harder than expected, so we’ve encouraged the race team to take some time off.

We’re using this period to build up the cars so the design office can see them fully assembled. The cars are hardly ever here during the season, so it’s a good chance to complete work we couldn’t do before. If one or both of the cancelled races are reinstated, we’re expecting a busy end to the year, so we want to make sure everyone can take rest where possible too.”

Reflections on the start of the season so far

“I think we did a good job, I’m not often one to self-praise, but we performed well in Shanghai. We managed to score points in both the sprint and the main race, even though we weren’t really quick enough. It was similar in Suzuka, but we’ve been able to extract the maximum from the car to bring home points.

We are paying the price against the teams we’re racing who developed their cars last season, whereas we developed ours towards the end of the year, so we’re a little on the back foot. However, the upgrades we’re bringing should hopefully move us closer to the top of the midfield.”

The introduction of the RBFPT Power Unit

“The PU works very well, and with every lap we complete, we learn more. Each time we run the car, we gather valuable data. One advantage we have is that we have powertrain engineers embedded within our engineering office, which allows us to work closely with them and better understand both them and how they operate.

This break gives us the opportunity to take a step back and review what we’ve done so far. There will likely be some changes in how we operate the PU for Miami and beyond. We’re using this period to work closely together to extract the maximum performance from both the PU and the chassis.”

Regulations conversations

“It’s not an easy one. We have to listen to the drivers, there are two groups of fans, some who love the new racing and some who don’t. Watching it live is quite exciting, but we need to work as a team to find the right balance.

There’s a lot of work going on, and we have several meetings over the next few weeks to decide which package of tweaks we’ll take through to Miami. The two main focuses are making qualifying more flat-out and driver-focused rather than PU-focused, and also reviewing previous incidents to see how we can reduce closing speeds. Although we need to be careful not to reduce the spectacle. There are measures that could be taken to reduce closing speeds, but that would likely impact overtaking.”

Liam and Arvid’s team dynamic

“They are working together very well. I was very clear with them in the off-season that they would both benefit from driving alongside each other, supporting rather than taking away from one another. It’s not about fighting each other, but about communicating and learning from each other. They’re collaborating well.

There are differences between the drivers, but it’s still early to say with Arvid, so it’s hard to compare his approach directly with Liam’s, but they are very close in terms of speed. Liam was unfortunate in Japan with a front wing issue, without that, he would have been up there, and both drivers would likely have been in similar positions.

They both came through the same Red Bull Junior Programme, and last year we also worked with Arvid on some TPC running. We’re proud of the fact that we can get the best out of them, and coming from the same programme, they tend to work in a similar way.”

Liam Lawson & Arvid Lindblad – VCARB Drivers

Maximising the April break

Liam – “It’s been good. I was in New Zealand for over a week as I had to get a new passport sorted. I’ve been able to spend a lot of time with my family, who I don’t get to see that often, and I rode my dirt bike quite a bit. I’m using this time to prepare for Miami, with a lot of simulator work planned and time at Faenza to spend with the team at the factory.”

Arvid – “This has been an unexpected break, so I’ve been maximising the time off and trying to learn as much as I can from the first couple of races and take away the key learnings. I’ve also been doing some training alongside sim sessions. The first few races weren’t too warm, but now that it’s going to start getting hotter, I’m making sure I’m well prepared for that.”

Reflecting on the start to 2026

Liam – “Pre-season was good, and we arrived in Melbourne quite strong, stronger than in the other two races. We’ve maximised what we could from the speed we have, and the team has done a really good job. Going forward, the goal is to find more performance in the car, and once we do that, we’ll be in a strong position. We’ve been able to score in every race this year, which gives us a good platform to keep building.”

Arvid – “In terms of expectations, I didn’t set too many, I’ve just been focused on learning. I’m really happy with how the first few races have gone and of course I’m always working on improving. The team has done a good job on the operational side, and we’ve executed the basics well, which has helped us score points as a team.”

The tight midfield battle

Liam – “This year, there’s quite a big difference between the balance you can extract performance wise through corners – on throttle especially in Qualifying compared to how much battery you’re using. That’s probably been the biggest challenge for us as drivers to get used to. In our case, it’s been less of a factor compared to the top teams, but as we become more competitive, we’ll start to feel it more, as I did in Japan. Our power unit has been very strong, particularly for a first-season PU. We’ve been maximising what we can from the car, but once we find more raw speed and downforce, we’ll be in a much stronger position.”

Arvid – “It’s still very early to say, because everything is changing week by week. That makes it difficult to pinpoint exactly where we’ve been strong or have areas for development. Everything is evolving, and the midfield is incredibly tight. The engine has been strong, but there are still areas where we can improve. In Melbourne, it worked very well, but some other teams may have already taken a step forward. There are a few areas we need to develop, but that’s to be expected with these new cars.”

The new regulations

Liam – “It’s been a very different start to the season, the cars are very different, and we’re still trying to get our heads around them. We’re all in the same boat, so it’s about working together to find solutions that work for everyone. So far, we’ve done a good job of extracting performance from the car, and we have some exciting upgrades to look forward to.

From a regulations point of view, the biggest priority is safety which everyone is in agreement on, especially after what we saw in Japan. We want to avoid situations like that going forward. On the performance side, things will always evolve and we’ll get faster over time.”

Team dynamic

Liam – “It’s been seamless and very smooth. A lot of it comes down to us this year with the new cars, how we work together and communicate with the team is very important, so it’s nice to be doing that with someone I’ve known for a long time. Arvid has done a great job coming in as a rookie and performing the way he has.”

Arvid – “We’ve known each other since the early days of the programme, which definitely helps. It’s been fun, we get on well, and there are really good vibes in the team. I’ve enjoyed sharing the garage together. We’ve gelled well, and together we’re helping push the team forward. Being able to discuss things openly and give clear feedback to the team makes a big difference.”

Looking ahead

Liam – “The main focus for us, and for the rest of the teams, is development. We’re going to see some big upgrades coming, especially this year, with development happening on shorter timelines. We’ll be using the simulator to optimise these upgrades as much as possible. Reliability has been very strong, and from a strategy point of view we’ve also done a great job. Overall, it’s been a positive start, so we will keep pushing in that direction”

Arvid – “The big thing for all of us will be the changes in Miami and being able to adapt to them. For me, it’s about continuing to learn and improve. I’m excited to see what the next few races have in store.”