Stella seventh for Lawson in F1 Sprint race in China

Visa Cash App Racing Bulls (VCARB) driver Liam Lawson put in a stella performance to finish seventh in the Sprint Race at the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix held at the Shanghai International Circuit on Saturday. With most of the field on mediums, Lawson chose to start the race from 13th on hard tyres, a strategy that enabled him to move through the field over the 19-lap race.

“Sprint this morning went really well,” said Lawson. “We had strong track position towards the end, so when the Safety Car came out we didn’t want to give that up. It was a bold strategy, but it worked out nicely and we were able to bring home some points.”

**Liam Lawson talks on the grid during the Sprint ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of China – Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images**

“Today delivered the kind of action you typically expect from the Saturday of a Sprint weekend,” said Matti Spini, Head of Trackside Engineering. “We made an unconventional call to start Liam on the Hard tyre for the Sprint, expecting the compound to be more resilient to graining. It proved to be the right choice and allowed him to work his way through the field into the points when the Safety Car was deployed on Lap 13. Liam managed the restart well on the cold Hards, holding the position and finishing in P7.

Qualifying proved difficult for both VCARB drivers with both Lawson and Arvid Lindblad moving into Q2 and qualifying 14th and 15th respectively.

“Qualifying was a bit messy, and we struggled to string the session together,” said Lawson. “However, we were on a really good lap at the end and had everything coming together before the double yellow flags forced us to abort in the final corner, which was a shame. Tyre and energy management will be really important tomorrow. It’s going to be tough, so we’ll need a strong race strategy, which we’ll be working on tonight.”

**Liam Lawson driving the (30) VCARB 03 RB Ford on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of China -Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images**

“In Qualifying, we used two new sets of Soft tyres on both cars in Q1, giving the drivers the best opportunity to adjust back to low fuel after the Sprint,” said Spini. “Both progressed into Q2 and were finding a significant amount of lap time in the second run, before a double yellow appeared in the final corner, forcing both laps to be aborted.

“Our strategy group will now focus on identifying opportunities to move forward in tomorrow’s race, which is likely to be another eventful one.”

The Chinese Grand Prix gets underway at 8:00pm Sunday 15 March 2026 NZ time (3:00pm local time).