Revealed: How Liam Lawson lost Belgian GP upgrade to Lindblad

Racing Bulls only had the capacity to upgrade one car at the Belgian Grand Prix. Therefore, a “fun” challenge for Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad was set.

As revealed by Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane, it was proposed, and agreed upon by both drivers, that whoever qualified ahead at the British Grand Prix would get the upgrades for Belgium. Lindblad was the victor in this scenario, and so got the upgrade for the Belgian Grand Prix.

Liam Lawson lost to Lindblad in Belgian GP upgrade battle

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Racing Bulls introduced the most upgrades of any team at Spa-Francorchamps. A new engine cover, roll hoop, front corner and rear wing graces one VCARB 03, the car driven by Lindblad.

At a time when unfounded rumours have emerged over the future of Lawson, Permane moved to explain the real reason why Lindblad has the upgrades at Spa, and Lawson does not.

Asked how a team decides which driver gets the upgrades when only one can, Permane said: “It’s not so easy, and honestly, we don’t like bringing updates for just one car.

“It was impossible for us to do it to two cars. It’s a chassis modification. We had to shrink the roll hoop, and we just couldn’t do that in time between Silverstone and here on both cars.

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

“So, I first suggested the very simple option, that makes it fair, is we upgrade no cars for Spa, and then both of them for Budapest. And of course, they looked at me like I was crazy, and I wouldn’t have ever done that. We didn’t really seriously consider that.

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

Permane confirmed a different plan for when the next major upgrade lands, if required.

“So, I think what we’ll do if it happens again later in the season – and it may happen later, we’ve got another big thing coming at some point – it will go to Liam, so we won’t do that again. He’ll automatically get it the next time.

“But we tried to put a little bit of fun to it, rather than just allocating it to someone.”

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Lawson and Lindblad is proving to be a very competitive pairing for Racing Bulls.

Lawson is piecing together his most impressive F1 season to date. Only twice in 2026 has he failed to score points.

Lindblad meanwhile is excelling in his rookie season. He already has 20 points on the board.

Combined with Lawson’s 39, it places Racing Bulls sixth in the Constructors’ standings, just one point behind Alpine.

“It’s good to have two quick guys. That’s for sure,” said Permane.

“I’m sure there’ll be some management needed. They’re incredibly close. It’s going to be nip and tuck, I’m sure, all year.”

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