‘Bit of fun’: Why Lawson missed out on car upgrade in Belgium

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Author: Alex Powell ,
Publish Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2026, 8:18am

Liam Lawson at the British Grand Prix. Photo / Red Bull

Racing Bulls team boss Alan Permane has shut down any suggestion his team is playing favourites with its drivers, after Arvid Lindblad was given a car upgrade ahead of Liam Lawson.

As the Formula One grid arrived at Spa-Francorchamps for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, Racing Bulls did so with an upgraded cooling system.

However, with resources tight and development opportunities limited, junior driver Lindblad was afforded the first chance to make use of the upgrade, with Lawson asked to be patient as a result.

Naturally, in a sport as competitive as Formula One, speculation and commentary descended into suggestions Lindblad was being given the rub of the green unfairly by the team.

But as Permane fronted media in between Friday’s first and second practice sessions, Racing Bulls’ team principal outlined the upgrade’s allocation was decided fairly between the two drivers.

“It’s not so easy, we don’t like bringing updates for just one car,” Permane explained. “It was impossible for us to do it to two cars.

“So what I did was sat down with both drivers in Austria, on Saturday evening. We’d had a very good qualifying, I thought ‘while everyone is in a good mood, I’ll give some bad news. We have a good update coming, but we can only do one car for Spa. The next car will be done for the race after, in Budapest’.

“I suggested the simple option, to make it fair, to upgrade no cars for Spa and then both for Budapest. [Lawson and Lindblad] looked at me like I was crazy. I wouldn’t have ever done that.

“The next thing I said was we could flip a coin, or make it a bit of fun and say whoever qualifies in front in Silverstone gets the upgrade. They both signed up for it, and that’s what we did.”

That qualifying session saw Lindblad start ninth to Lawson’s 10th, just 0.412s clear of his teammate to earn the upgrade. Lawson got his own back by finishing sixth in the grand prix, while Lindblad crossed the line seventh.

Regardless, after deciding the upgrade’s destination in such a novel fashion, Permane also asserted that Lawson will be on the receiving end, should the situation arise again.

“What we’ll do, if it happens again later in the season – we’ve got another big thing coming at some point – it will go to Liam.

“He’ll automatically get it the next time. We tried to put a bit of fun to it, rather than just allocating it to someone.”

Liam Lawson in the Racing Bulls garage during the Belgian Grand Prix. Photo / Red Bull

Either way, Racing Bulls’ driver pairing is quickly becoming one of the most competitive on the grid.

Leading into Spa, Lawson sits 10th in the drivers championship, one place and 19 points clear of his teammate.

Most importantly, they trail Alpine by just one point in the race for fifth in the constructors championship, and for the title of “best of the rest” behind Formula One’s top four teams – Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren.

There have already been signs that things could get complicated between Lawson and Lindblad, notably when the rookie appeared to ignore team orders in Austria.

But with a driver’s first objective always being to beat their teammate, Permane expects more competition between Lawson and Lindblad.

“It’s good to have two quick guys, that’s for sure,” he said. “I’m sure there’ll be some management needed.

“They’re incredibly close. If you look this morning [Free Practice One], their ideal laps are separated by milliseconds.

“It’s going to be nip and tuck all year, I’m sure.”

Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.