Visa Cash App Racing Bulls – 2026 CHINESE GRAND PRIX – RACE

Alan Permane
TEAM PRINCIPAL
“To come away with a total of 8 points from a weekend where we clearly weren’t quick enough is an exceptional result for the team. 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. Starting on the Hard tyre, the Safety Car came at the wrong time for Arvid, which comprised his race and all the cars that started on the Hard tyre. A tough weekend for him, but the learning continues. A sprint weekend at a new track was always going to be tricky and especially where he didn’t get much track time in FP1.

“It’s a quick turnaround now, back to Europe for a week before heading out to Japan. 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.”

Liam Lawson
Race – Finish Position: 7th, Start Position: 14th
“I’m really happy with our result today. 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. 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.”

Arvid Lindblad
Race – Finish Position: 12th, Start Position: 15th
“It wasn’t the easiest weekend for us. I had a good start and the race was going okay until the Safety Car came out. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the ideal timing for our strategy as it was too early to pit onto the Mediums, so we were forced to stay out on the Hards. It was a different weekend compared to Melbourne. It was built differently, as this was a Sprint event on a new track for me, and with only a few laps completed during practice. There are definitely learnings I can bring forward, as well as things I can improve and look at together with the team before going to Japan.”

Rafaele Ferreira
Qualifying – 2:04.699, 4th
Race 1 – Finish Position: 4th, Start Position: 4th
Race 2 – Finish Position: 6th, Start Position: 5th
“I’m really happy with how the first F1 Academy weekend went. It was my best ever Qualifying result, putting the car on the second row, giving us a great position for the reverse-grid race. I was very close to the podium, but it was still a strong result and we managed to score some important points.

“Today we started P5 and swapped a few places off the line, but we still came away with points in both races, which is the kind of consistency we’re aiming for this year. Now we have a break before Canada, which is a track I really enjoy, so I’m looking forward to it. I want to take everything we’ve learned here and push for another positive weekend.