Arvid Lindblad secured another points finish for Racing Bulls at the Spanish Grand Prix, taking ninth place at the Madring after starting tenth. The rookie collected two more championship points on an afternoon dominated by the Madrid circuit’s severe overtaking difficulties, while team-mate Yuki Tsunoda could only recover to 14th after sustaining significant damage in a first-lap collision with Carlos Sainz.
It was another useful result for a Racing Bulls team that has emerged as one of Formula 1’s strongest midfield operations during the 2026 season. However, unlike at Monza and several other races this year, the Faenza squad was unable to bring both cars home inside the top 10.
Arvid Lindblad scores points again for Racing Bulls in Madrid
For Arvid Lindblad, the Spanish Grand Prix brought a second consecutive points finish. He started tenth and gained one position to finish ninth, although making progress through conventional overtaking proved extremely difficult.
“I’m happy to finish a challenging weekend by bringing home another two points,” Arvid Lindblad said. “We knew strategy was going to be crucial, but when the VSC came out almost everyone pitted, which reduced the room for manoeuvre.”
The Virtual Safety Car effectively compressed many of the strategic options available to the midfield runners. Once the stops had played out, Lindblad spent most of the remaining race pushing hard on the Hard tyres.
“From that point onwards, I was pretty much pushing flat out for the rest of the race on the Hard tyres. We maintained good pace and for much of the race we were right behind Franco Colapinto.”
Lindblad tried to create an overtaking opportunity by varying his use of electrical energy, but the characteristics of the Madring ultimately left him unable to launch a meaningful attack.
“I tried everything, managing the energy intelligently and varying how I used it to try to find an opening, but unfortunately there was never a real opportunity to overtake.”
“It wasn’t the most exciting race, but I think we can be satisfied with how we managed the weekend after Friday’s setback.”
The result followed Racing Bulls’ strong Monza weekend, when Lindblad and Tsunoda both reached the points. That double points finish at the Italian Grand Prix had further underlined the team’s improving consistency.
Yuki Tsunoda’s race compromised by Carlos Sainz contact
Yuki Tsunoda endured a much more difficult afternoon in what was his third consecutive Grand Prix deputising for Liam Lawson at Racing Bulls. Starting 15th, the Japanese driver could only improve to 14th after his race was compromised almost immediately.
“Today was not easy at all,” Yuki Tsunoda said. “My race was almost over at Turn 1, where I picked up significant damage following the collision with Sainz; the impact on our race pace was considerable.”
Carlos Sainz made contact with Tsunoda at the opening corner, leaving the Racing Bulls driver to complete the race with a damaged car. Combined with the lack of overtaking opportunities, the incident left him with little realistic prospect of fighting his way towards the points.
“Considering the damage, I don’t think the pace was actually that bad, but I lost a few positions at the start. Because overtaking is very difficult at this circuit, there wasn’t much opportunity to recover them.”
Tsunoda grateful for another Racing Bulls opportunity
Despite the disappointing result, Tsunoda remained positive about his latest opportunity to race in Formula 1 after his return to the Faenza team. His unexpected comeback began at Zandvoort before continuing through Monza and Madrid while Liam Lawson moved across to Red Bull.
“I gave it everything and I really enjoyed being back behind the wheel. A huge thank you to the team for giving me another opportunity this weekend,” Yuki Tsunoda added.
Tsunoda’s surprise Racing Bulls return has given him another chance to demonstrate his level in the 2026 machinery, although Madrid offered little opportunity to showcase it once the Turn 1 damage had been sustained.
Madrid overtaking problem shapes Racing Bulls race
Both Racing Bulls drivers ultimately reached the same conclusion about Formula 1’s first race at the Madring: track position mattered enormously and genuine overtaking opportunities were scarce.
Lindblad had enough pace to spend much of the Grand Prix directly behind Franco Colapinto, yet even carefully managing his energy deployment failed to produce a realistic opening. Tsunoda faced an even more difficult task after losing ground and sustaining damage at the start.
For Racing Bulls, ninth place still represents another valuable result and continues Lindblad’s strong run of points finishes. It was not the double top-10 result achieved at Monza, and it certainly was not the most action-packed race, but another two points ensured the Faenza team left Madrid with something to show for a difficult weekend.
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