There’ll be no change in Racing Bulls’ line-up for next season, with Arvid Lindblad’s encouraging rookie year and a sensational campaign from Liam Lawson enough to secure their respective seats.
Why did Lindblad get the nod?
Lindblad has caught the eye this year, kicking off life in F1 with points on debut in Australia and going on a run of 10 points finishes in 11 Grands Prix weekends midway through the year.
His progression both on and off track has been solid through the year, with the team impressed with his feedback, calmness under pressure and natural speed.
Though the last four events have been point-less for the 19-year-old, there was still underlying growth in his performances, including a strong drive from 18th to 11th last time out in Brazil.
It’s believed that Red Bull and Racing Bulls have been convinced for some time that Lindblad, who sits 11th in the Drivers’ Standings, deserved another year.
What was the challenge with the second seat?
The second seat was less certain because even if Lawson was enjoying the best season of his career by quite some distance, Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov was making waves in F2.
Lawson has looked like a driver reborn at Racing Bulls, following his demotion from Red Bull after just two races at the start of 2025, with his performance in 2026 particularly impressive.
The 24-year-old has scored points in 15 of the 20 Grands Prix this year (two of those were when he subbed in at Red Bull) – as well as taking points in three Sprints where only the top eight score.
That form puts him best of the rest and top of the midfield pack in P9 in the drivers’ standings with a points tally of 89, more than double the tally of the next best driver Pierre Gasly.
However, with Tsolov leading the championship in F2 until the previous round when he was usurped by Ferrari junior and incoming full-time Haas driver Rafa Camara, Red Bull were considering promoting him.
With six victories in F2, Tsolov has well and truly been one to watch, and when he got behind the wheel of the Racing Bulls machine in FP1 at Mexico, he impressed the team with his speed and feedback.
That piled pressure on Lawson. Despite impressing during his three-race stint replacing the injured Isack Hadjar at Red Bull, a permanent return appears unlikely, strengthening the case for Racing Bulls to develop another potential Red Bull driver.
Racing Bulls Team Principal Alan Permane, who was recently handed a new contract that will keep him at the helm until at least the end of 2031, told me last year that he wants the team to be “an incubator for talent”.
And so that’s why Racing Bulls found themselves with a dilemma.
Why did they choose Lawson over Tsolov?
Ultimately, it came down to performance. Lawson’s tally of 89 points has been crucial in the team establishing themselves in P5 in the Teams’ Championship, 45 points clear of Alpine.
The Faenza-based team have never finished as high as fifth in their 20-year history, so Lawson’s contribution to putting them on the path to making history played a big role.
Even with the pressure of Tsolov waiting in the wings, Lawson has absorbed it all and continued to deliver across the last triple header, following a ninth in Austin with a brace of seventh places.
That form – combined with his results across the rest of the year – is what Red Bull and Racing Bulls will have hoped to get from a driver in one of their cars.
His race craft has tightened up, he’s cut out the mistakes – and he seems to have found a way to get the best out of himself more consistently across a race weekend.
The New Zealander works well with Lindblad and they felt that continuity and stability was the right move for 2027 as they look to build on their very strong campaign in 2026.
What does that mean for Tsolov?
The Bulgarian will have to wait a little longer, but it’s believed it’s a case of when, not if, he’ll make the step up to Formula 1 with the Red Bull family.
The energy drinks firm rate him highly and he’s progressing as they would expect. Having more time to prepare himself for a debut in Formula 1 can only be a good thing.
The team haven’t confirmed what his role will look like going forward but it’s likely they will make him a reserve driver to continue his integration with the team.
It’s also likely that he will get more opportunities in FP1 – teams have to run a rookie in at least four FP1s per year – and some running in old-spec F1 machinery to continue to build his experience.
All this puts Racing Bulls in a very strong position. They have two drivers performing at a very high level and one driver readying himself for a step up.
It’s exactly how they and Red Bull will have hoped their junior programme conveyor belt would work.