Oracle Red Bull Racing’s weekend fill-in driver Liam Lawson delivered his best drive of the 2026 Formula One season to date to score seventh place in the final Dutch Grand Prix at Circuit Zandvoort, as home hero Max Verstappen crashed out of the race on the opening lap.
“It was a pretty lonely race for me today,” commented Lawson. “We just didn’t have the pace to fight with the guys in front so it was tricky. I’m happy I got points for the team.
“I knew coming into the weekend it’d be difficult, especially at a circuit like Zandvoort, where you need a lot of confidence in the car, but I feel like we extracted everything we could.
“It was a shame to see what happened to Max. That part of the track was incredibly slippery and on slick tyres it was so easy to lose the car there. I was right behind him, so it was a pretty scary moment. I’m glad he’s okay.
“It’s never easy stepping into an entirely new car, but the team did a good job in making me feel comfortable and I’m grateful for the opportunity.”
After a pre-race rain shower, the Grand Prix got underway with the Circuit Zandvoort surface damp and just a few corners into the race, four-time world champion Verstappen fell foul of the conditions as he suffered a huge crash that destroyed his RB22 and forced a red flag situation.
Fortunately, Verstappen walked away unscathed from the accident, but a 40-minute delay was needed to clear the debris from the circuit before racing could resume.
“Beyond that, Liam did a good job stepping into Isack’s car this weekend,” said Laurent Mekies – CEO & Team Principal. “It’s never easy to step into a different team and different car, but he did very well.
“He was just one tenth away from Max yesterday in qualifying and today took he the points that were available to him with the seventh place. Even though he wasn’t in the cockpit, Isack was with us this weekend, taking the learnings from it, and that will help us to all push together as strongly for the next race.”
Further down the field, Visa Cash App Racing Bulls stand-in driver Yuki Tsunoda just missed the points in his first competitive drive of 2026 so far in 11th place, while rookie team-mate Arvid Lindblad finished just one position behind in 12th, missing the points for the first time in seven races.
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