Double Points But Disappointment for Racing Bulls

Racing Bulls lie sixth in the standings after the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, but team boss Alan Permane explained why they cannot be entirely happy with how the race panned out despite both drivers scoring points.

On paper, Racing Bulls had a great weekend in Barcelona-Catalunya, with both drivers scoring points as they continue their pursuit of Alpine in the Constructors' Championship. The team are 16 points behind their rivals in the battle for fifth place, but are riding high after two double point scores in the last two Grands Prix.

Strategy Frustrations

Liam Lawson came home eighth in Sunday and Arvid Lindblad ninth - and yet their Team Principal Alan Permane admitted to having "mixed feelings" afterwards.

"There are mixed feelings following today's race in Barcelona," Permane explained. "After a strong weekend, it felt as though we retreated a little bit in the race. The Alpines definitely had the measure of us today, but it also demonstrates that our ambitions and expectations are higher than what we achieved."

The key moment came when Lawson was running inside the top 10, ahead of rival Pierre Gasly. But the Frenchman got a cheap pit stop under the Virtual Safety Car, which allowed him to jump ahead of Lawson. Franco Colapinto also managed to jump both Lawson and Lindblad, so they lost out to both Alpines on the road.

Qualifying Promise

Lindblad was the pick of the two Racing Bulls drivers in practice, finishing the three sessions in ninth, seventh and P10. Lawson was seventh in FP1, but then faded to 13th and 12th - but crucially both cars were ahead of both Alpines in every session.

But come Qualifying, Lindblad suffered a lack of deployment on his final run in Q2, and could not make the top 10 shootout - something the team immediately apologized for over the radio.

Driver Reactions

Lindblad called it a "decent day," but did admit the race was not entirely smooth: "We'll regroup with the team and see what things we could have executed better, as we lost some time during the race. We were fast during the second and third stints, but coming from so far back meant that it was more of a catch-up game opposed to really being able to utilise our pace to gain positions."

Lawson has scored in five of the seven Grands Prix so far this season, and in one Sprint. He looks back to his best after a tricky time of it last season, where he was demoted from Red Bull after just two races.

"It was a difficult race today. We came into it expecting to be more competitive, but unfortunately we struggled for pace compared to the cars around us," he explained. "We were also unlucky with the VSC, which allowed Gasly to pit and come out ahead of us, making our race even more challenging."

Austria is the next race for Racing Bulls to contend with, and they will certainly want to impress at what is often considered a 'home' race for the team given their Red Bull links.