Top weekend in China for Liam Lawson

Visa Cash App Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson has come away from the 2026 Chinese F1 Grand Prix with eight points and sits ninth overall in the F1 drivers’ championship. Two points gained from finishing seventh in Saturday’s 19-lap Sprint Race coupled with another six from finishing seventh in Sunday’s Grand Prix sees him four ahead of teammate Arvid Lindblad and equal with Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen.

“I’m really happy with our result today,” commented Lawson. “To be honest, we didn’t quite expect it, but our pace was strong towards the end. We had a poorly timed Safety Car, and at that moment I thought our race might be over. It turned out to be a really enjoyable race and we managed to pull off a few overtakes.

**Seventh placed Liam Lawson – Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images**

“Bringing it home in P7 feels great. Full credit to the team from a strategy standpoint, we did everything right this weekend and securing two-point finishes shows how well the team executed. We’ll keep pushing to find a bit more speed for next week and the coming races, and hopefully we can fight even further up the grid.”

His comments were backed up by Team Principal, Alan Permane.

“To come away with a total of eight-points from a weekend where we clearly weren’t quick enough is an exceptional result for the team,” said Permane. “It was a very well executed race. We were unlucky with the Safety Car as we pitted Liam the lap before, but he drove a really great race. He was under a lot of pressure at one stage from Hadjar and didn’t put a foot wrong, delivering a solid result.

Liam Lawson (VCARB 03 RB Ford) leads Carlos Sainz (Williams FW48 Mercedes) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin F1 Team AMR26 Honda) at the start during the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit – Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images

“It’s a quick turnaround now, back to Europe for a week before heading out to Japan,” said Permane. “It’s a circuit that presents very different configurations and challenges compared to the last two races, and one we’re looking forward to taking on.”

2026 Formula One Championship Drivers Points after two-rounds
1/ George Russell, Mercedes, 51
2/ Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, 47
3/ Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 34
4/ Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, 33
5/ Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team, 17
6/ Lando Norris, McLaren, 15
7/ Pierre Gasly, Alpine, 9
8/ Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 8
9/ Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls, 8
10/ Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls, 4