Racing Bulls Shatters Midfield Hopes
As one of F1's smaller teams, Racing Bulls has equalled its best-ever result of sixth place in 2025, but its current season has seen the team shatter midfield hopes with a stunning performance.
The Anglo-Italian team finds itself atop the midfield with its upgraded VCARB 03, having overhauled Alpine after the final weekend before the shutdown in Budapest. The team amassed 66 points to end the first half of the season in an unprecedented fifth place, earning it a B grade.
Racing Bulls' season didn't start that way, however. The team showed well in Australia, with debut points for eight-placed Arvid Lindblad, but Alpine soon sorted itself out and leapt clear. However, a crucial floor upgrade in Montreal saw Racing Bulls take a major step that turned the team into the most reliable midfield performer as Alpine faded.
Since Canada, at least one Racing Bulls car has reached Q3 at every round and the team scored double points on five occasions. This solid package, thanks to a better-than-expected power unit, has allowed Liam Lawson to put his best foot forward, with the New Zealander ninth in the standings.
Liam Lawson has finally got the stability of a full season at the same team, while Arvid Lindblad has impressed from start to finish and has run Lawson close on several occasions. The friendly but competitive rivalry between the two drivers will take its next level against the background of the squad's mission to train young drivers for Red Bull.
With junior driver Nikita Tsolov waiting in the wings and the Bulgarian teenager impressing in F2, the pressure on both drivers to perform hasn't gone anywhere, with or without hard-nosed former advisor Helmut Marko overseeing the junior programme.
Alan Permane, team principal, credited the team's success to a combination of factors, including a very large upgrade for Melbourne and a solid understanding of the car's performance. "We brought a very large upgrade for Melbourne, and we’ve continued to upgrade the car through the season," he said. "The second part of what’s really helped our season is finding the race pace. We had a very nice car in Canada in qualifying, but it wasn’t so good in the race. Monaco was very similar, Barcelona very similar. What Austria and Silverstone have shown is that we’ve fixed that."
As the summer break approaches, Racing Bulls will look to continue its impressive form and solidify its position in the midfield. The team's performance will be closely watched, especially with the pressure on its drivers to perform.
Source: Yahoo Sports
