Racing Bulls turns Monaco scare into double top six

Racing Bulls turned a pre-race scare on Liam Lawson’s car into its strongest Monaco result in years, with Lawson finishing fifth and Arvid Lindblad sixth in the 2026 Grand Prix for the team’s biggest points haul since Abu Dhabi 2021.

The scale of the turnaround was clear before the start. Lawson’s VCARB 03 suffered a systems issue in the build-up, and the car was only ready as the pit lane opened for the laps to the grid. Lawson told media including Crash.net that he walked into the garage, saw the car “in a million pieces” and thought “I wasn't racing today.” Instead, the mechanics got him out in time for what he called “a big turnaround” after a “massive effort from the guys and girls to put it together and get us out on track.”

That recovery set up a result that delivered 18 points and the best Formula 1 finishes so far for both Racing Bulls drivers. Lawson described it as an excellent outcome given where the team had started the weekend, while team chief Alan Permane praised the collective effort, saying the drivers made no mistakes and the mechanics solved the cars’ issues with 30 minutes remaining before the race.

Once the race settled, Lawson said Racing Bulls controlled the situation behind him and then used strategy to protect its position. “We were managing the Williams behind, and had quite a bit of pace, which was nice,” he said. He added that the team extended his stint to build a gap before pitting, and that the late red flag then left both cars “in a great position for the restart,” allowing Racing Bulls to bring home fifth and sixth.

Lindblad’s side of the result came from a different route. Starting 15th, he stayed out when others pitted and then gained from the red flag, which handed him a free tyre change at exactly the right moment. He admitted Racing Bulls was “very lucky with the timing of the red flag,” but said “regardless, it was a very well executed race for myself and the team.”

The rookie still had to finish the job at a circuit that punishes small mistakes. Lindblad said he spent much of the race managing worn tyres and trying to stay fully focused, before the red flag changed the picture. “We really capitalised on it,” he said, calling sixth place “a massive result” after a race that had gone well beyond what he expected after Saturday.

For Lawson, the bigger significance was that Monaco reinforced a pattern in Racing Bulls’ season. He said the team has been “just surviving” through difficult weekends while others around it hit trouble, and that this result showed more than simple opportunism. “To put a car together literally two minutes before the green light, and have no issues in the race, and have a car that was competitive, was very, very cool,” he said.