Author Archives: PressBox

Liam Lawson said he is in a good place after the best start to his Formula 1 career, a run that has helped lift Racing Bulls to fifth in the 2026 constructors’ standings at midseason. The team has scored points in 10 races, recorded five double-point finishes and sits on 66 points, five clear of Alpine. Lawson said Racing Bulls did not know how competitive it would be under the new regulations, but the team found performance quickly after a difficult start.

Lawson moved to ninth in the drivers’ standings after finishing eighth at the Hungarian Grand Prix, while Arvid Lindblad’s 10th place gave Racing Bulls another double-score weekend. Lawson has scored 43 points this year, more than Lindblad’s 23, and the pair are split across the qualifying battles, with Lawson leading 6-5 and Lindblad ahead 7-5 in Q3 appearances. Lawson said his points finish in China and Lindblad’s debut points in Melbourne helped confirm the team’s direction, and he pointed to strong weekends in Monaco, Austria and Silverstone.

Lawson said he is focused on maximizing each weekend rather than chasing a specific championship position, and he believes Racing Bulls can finish as the best midfield team. Former IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe said the team could finally score a podium this season, which would strengthen Lawson’s or Lindblad’s case for a Red Bull promotion.

Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer has denied rumors that Formula 2 leader Nikola Tsolov will replace Lawson next season, even as Tsolov is being considered for a Formula 1 promotion. Max Verstappen is now expected to stay at Red Bull. Guenther Steiner rated Lawson’s first 11 races a B-, placing him level with Lindblad, as Lawson has turned around a difficult 2025 season.

Formula 1 revenue fell sharply in the second quarter, with Liberty Media saying F1 revenue dropped 38% year over year to $764 million. Adjusted OIBDA fell 61% to $139 million, and profit declined to $73 million from $293 million a year earlier.

Liberty Media said the comparison was skewed because four fewer Grands Prix were held in the quarter than in the same period last year, after the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian races were postponed because of unrest in the Middle East. The postponements cut payments to teams, hospitality sales and freight revenue. By the end of June, F1 had three fewer races on its calendar than in 2025.

Liberty Media said more calendar changes may be needed this season and that contingency plans were in place if the Qatar or Abu Dhabi Grands Prix are not held. Even with the revenue hit, CEO Derek Chang and F1 chief Stefano Domenicali said the company’s fundamentals remain solid. Domenicali said fan engagement remained strong. Liberty Media also said sponsorship, licensing and premium hospitality were the main near-term revenue opportunities. Total hours watched on Apple’s platform rose 13% year over year.

Williams has already moved on to long-term recovery work after a difficult start to its 2026 Formula 1 season, with team principal James Vowles saying the FW48 has been “a flop” and cannot be fully fixed this year. He said the team is focusing on curing the car’s worst handling traits and building a better platform for the future, even as the current car has been blighted by production delays, excess weight and balance problems. Those delays also meant Williams missed private testing in Barcelona at the end of January, and the FW48 arrived late, overweight and off the pace.

The on-track results have reflected those problems. Williams sits ninth in the constructors’ standings with 11 points, has not scored since the Monaco Grand Prix in June and managed only 11 points through the first 11 races. Carlos Sainz called the season an “eye-opener” and “character building,” saying Williams had overachieved in 2025 when it finished fifth and scored podiums, but has fallen farther from the front than expected under the new rules. He said the team still has a lot of work to do to fight at the front again.

Alex Albon said the planned upgrade for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix is unlikely to be a quick fix, since much of it was designed long ago and the team is already focused on next year’s car. He said Williams understands the car’s weaknesses and is working hard to address them, but described the FW48 as overweight, unbalanced and frustrating to drive. Sainz said a turnaround is possible, but it will take time, budget-cap money and detailed analysis, while Vowles said the factory work is not being reflected in the results and Williams is already working on its 2027 car.

Red Bull’s 2026 F1 car has developed a narrow operating window, with technical director Pierre Wache saying the RB22 struggles on corner entry stability and with mid-corner understeer, and that small changes in track conditions or minor damage can wipe out its performance. Wache said the car initially lacked load and had steering feel problems early in the season, but those issues were corrected, and Red Bull is still working to understand what is not functioning as it tries to improve the package. He also said it is hard to know whether last year’s late development push hurt the 2026 project.

The team has already made 36 changes this season and introduced upgrades at every race except the Chinese Grand Prix, with the biggest updates arriving in Miami and Austria. Team principal Laurent Mekies said it is probably difficult to imagine keeping that development rhythm, and warned that the 2026 spending cap of $215 million could force Red Bull to slow its pace in the second half of the year as it balances this season’s car against next year’s. The FIA’s ADUO system has rated Red Bull’s engine the fastest, limiting further engine-related upgrades.

Those limitations have left Red Bull more than 200 points behind Mercedes after 11 races, fourth in the constructors’ standings and the only top-four team without a win. Max Verstappen finished second at the Hungarian Grand Prix but said he was unhappy with the car’s oversteer and described the race as one of the hardest of his season. Wache said Verstappen and teammate Isack Hadjar have both been frustrated by the car’s balance, gear ratios and overall feel, and that Red Bull has made progress as it tries to avoid its first winless season since 2015. Verstappen heads into the summer break with his contract break clause active, and attention now turns to how the car performs at Zandvoort.