© GETTY IMAGES / RED BULL CONTENT POOL
Welcome welcome welcome. Thank you for joining us once again as we trot around the globe in pursuit of greatness. This week is no different, other than a slight tweak in the circuit choice. That’s because this is: The FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX IN MALAYSIA 2026. The Sepang International Circuit is the temporary home to the Bahrain Grand Prix and fills the gap between Baku and Singapore, so we’re now half-way through a triple header.
As is tradition around here, we start off all weekends with our race poster, created by our roster of talent in the VCARB Creator Platform. This week, the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia poster was created by @chiaraxie_art, capturing the climate of Malaysia (ahem, sorry, Bahrain) in the best possible way.
And what’s a Grand Prix weekend without a bit of VCARB tomfoolery? We managed to get Arvid with the oldest trick in the book, meanwhile we were sheltering from the blistering heat in Liam’s cosy, air-conditioned driver room. Thanks Liam.
We weren’t finished, btw. We managed to successfully ragebait Arvid and Liam that we made a secret handshake at the opening round. Gutted they didn’t remember it…
This big fan looooooves Mr Lawson and couldn’t wait to meet him.
We first hit the track on Friday to get some initial feelings in the bag. It looked like our VCARB 03 was competitive as soon as it touched the asphalt, and we had both cars in the top 10 in FP1. After some race runs in FP2, we were still amongst the top teams and showing promising signs of race pace.
Arvid flying through Malaysia© GETTY IMAGES / RED BULL CONTENT POOLIn Saturday’s qualifying session, things were a bit tougher. Both Arvid and Liam made it through to Q2, and knowing Arvid would take a grid penalty for the race with a new PU, he sacrificed his final run, playing the team game, to give Liam a tow. Unfortunately both were knocked out of Q2 but we weren’t too concerned, as all was to fight for on Sunday.
With that said, let’s go racing.
Lawson reporting live from the wet lane© GETTY IMAGES / RED BULL CONTENT POOLMonsoon season was upon us, and the heavens opened. Arvid and Liam hit the track in difficult conditions. Were slick tyres the best? Intermediates? The pack was quite literally divided on opinion, but we opted for the green-banded inters and reaped the rewards.
The initial race start was delayed due to technical difficulties that affected engine performance in wet setups across most of the grid, but we eventually got going on Lap 3. Liam had a monstrous launch off the line, climbing from P11 to P4 before he’d even reached the first turn. Arvid too had made up ground, making it up to P9 on the opening lap all the way from the back of the grid.P22 to P9, not a bad first lap.
Liam settled into P5 after Red Bull Racing’s Isack Hadjar moved up the field, while Arvid gained a position in a battle with the Williams of Alex Albon.
On Lap 9, the Safety Car was deployed after a crash involving Valtteri Bottas and drivers began peeling into the pit lane for a cheap pit stop. We stuck both of our boys onto fresh Hards and sent them on their way, rejoining the race in P5 and P7.
Arvid and Liam held their ground for multiple laps and showed incredible pace around Sepang. Arvid lost a place to Ocon on Lap 21, and Liam moved behind Hamilton four laps later. By lap 30, Arvid was P14 after Leclerc, Piastri, Hulkenberg and Colapinto overtook on alternate tyre strategies. He was back up to P10 once their pit stops had been completed.
Making a splash© GETTY IMAGES / RED BULL CONTENT POOLA Virtual Safety Car was deployed after Alex Albon stopped on track with a gearbox issue, but this was soon changed to a full Safety Car. We opted not to pit and managed to hold our positions until the chequered flag: Liam P7, Arvid P10. Not a bad day at the office, eh? 7 points gained for the team, no less!
Here are Arvid, Liam and Alan's thoughts and feelings after the race around Sepang:
LIAM LAWSON #30
Race – Finish Position: 7th, Start Position: 11th “It feels great to be taking home double points from the Bahrain GP in Malaysia, as we continue to fight for P5 in the Championship. I had one of the best starts of my life today and then we managed to maintain a strong position at the front of the midfield for the duration of the race. Our car has been very good all weekend and the strategy throughout the race was on point. Seeing our Power Unit take home the victory also rounds off a solid effort from the team both back at the factory and trackside, so a huge thanks to everyone. We'll be taking all the positives and learnings from this weekend as we head to Singapore tonight. It's a Sprint weekend for the first time there too, so I'm looking forward to maximising all the point scoring opportunities."
ARVID LINDBLAD #41
Race – Finish Position: 10th, Start Position: 22nd "Today was definitely action packed with all the pit stops and Safety Cars. We finished with an amazing result and the team did a really good job making all the right calls at the right moments, so massive credit to everyone. Even though I feel like I could have done a bit more on my side, there are definitely a lot of positives to take from today, especially as it was my first time driving in the wet. We’re now moving on to the final leg of the triple-header, and with Singapore being a Sprint weekend, I’m hoping we can pick up some more points and have another interesting race.”
ALAN PERMANE (TEAM PRINCIPAL)
“It felt like a long race today, but it also went by in a flash. It’s been great to be back here in Malaysia; standing on the grid in the pouring rain this afternoon felt like we’d never been away. This place always gives us a spicy race and that’s certainly what we got.
“We definitely got the basics right today; the choice for Inter tyres was the correct one especially as the cars went out, you could see there was huge spray. For Liam it was quite a straightforward race, there were no threats from behind and we stopped under the Safety Car for the first set of Hard tyres and then stopped for the second set later on in the race. Arvid had a little bit of a tougher day, he suffered with a lot more tyre degradation than Liam did, but he’s had good pace all weekend and did a great job getting past Nico [Hulkenberg] on that final lap, bringing home that extra point. Whilst we come away with some impressive points today, it’s far from over, so we’ll take all our learnings into Singapore to finish the triple header.
“A huge well done to everyone at track and back at home in Faenza and a huge congratulations to everyone at Red Bull Ford Powertrains – a first win in its first season – very impressive, congratulations!”
Double points secured© GETTY IMAGES / RED BULL CONTENT POOLIf that wasn’t enough racing action for you, don’t fret! We’re back in just a week’s time for Round 17: the Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix. Until then, we’ve been VCARB, and you’ve been amazing. Peace out.
