Racing Bulls Turned a Qualifying Battle Between Lindblad and Lawson Into the Decider for New Spa Upgrades

• Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane says it was “impossible” to fit new chassis upgrades to both Arvid Lindblad’s and Liam Lawson’s cars in time for the Belgian Grand Prix.
• Permane settled the choice by telling both drivers that whoever qualified ahead at the British Grand Prix would get the upgrade for Spa, and Lindblad won by 0.411 seconds.
• The team boss confirmed Lawson will automatically get the next upgrade without a repeat shootout, as Racing Bulls chase Alpine for best of the rest in the constructors’ standings.

Alan Permane had a problem heading into the Belgian Grand Prix. Racing Bulls had built a new upgrade package, but there was only enough time to fit it to one of his two cars, and both Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson wanted it.

The parts, including an updated sidepod, roll hoop, brake drum and rear wing, required a chassis modification that Permane said the team simply could not complete on both cars between the British Grand Prix and Spa-Francorchamps. A separate cooling update will run exclusively on Lindblad’s car for the same reason.

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A Difficult Conversation in Austria

Permane explained how he broke the news. “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.”

He chose his moment carefully. “What I did is I sat down with both drivers in Austria on Saturday evening. We’d had a very good Qualifying and I thought 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.”

From a Coin Flip to a Qualifying Shootout

Permane’s first idea was to hold the upgrade back entirely rather than choose between his drivers. “I first suggested the very simple option, which is fair, we upgrade no cars for Spa, and then both of them for Budapest. 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.”

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

Lindblad edged Lawson by 0.411 seconds in qualifying at the British Grand Prix, taking ninth on the grid to Lawson’s tenth, and with it the full upgrade package for the Spa weekend, a circuit where he raced in his junior categories before reaching Formula 1.

No Repeat Shootout Next Time

Permane made clear the arrangement will not become a running theme between his two drivers, both of whom he described as performing at a consistently high level. “I think what we’ll do if it happens again later in the season, and it may happen, we’ve got another big thing coming at some point, it’ll go to Liam, so we won’t do that again. He’ll automatically get it next time. We tried to put a bit of fun into it rather than just allocating it to someone.”

Racing Bulls arrive at Spa on a run of four consecutive double-points finishes, sitting sixth in the constructors’ standings on 59 points, a single point behind Alpine in fifth. The new components are aimed at improving airflow and generating more downforce through a circuit with long straights and fast, sweeping corners, and a strong result at Spa could be enough to flip that order before the summer break.

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Written by

Jack Renn

Jack Renn is an editor at F1 Chronicle and a veteran motorsport journalist with 25 years of experience covering Formula 1 and international motorsport. A member of the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive (AIPS), the global body representing accredited sports journalists, Jack has spent his career reporting from paddocks and press rooms across the F1 calendar. His work spans race analysis, technical insight, and in-depth features, giving readers authoritative coverage grounded in decades of firsthand experience at the highest level of the sport.

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