Liam Lawson scores his first points under Alan Permane’s leadership in Racing Bulls debut as Team Principal
The New Zealander finishes ninth in the 2025 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, while Isack Hadjar ends in last position due to car problems
The race weekend at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit concluded with a mixed outcome for the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls team, previously known as Scuderia AlphaTauri. One of the two drivers from the Faenza-based team managed to finish the Belgian Grand Prix within the top ten, securing a valuable points finish, while the other unfortunately ended the race in last place.
Liam Lawson, the young New Zealand driver and former Red Bull Racing driver, delivered a strong performance by crossing the finish line in ninth position. This result came after securing tenth place in the Sprint race, further confirming his upward trajectory. It also marked the third time in the current Formula 1 season that Lawson has scored points while driving for the Racing Bulls team. His performance comes at an important moment, as it coincides with the debut of Alan Permane as Team Principal of the Racing Bulls, following his long tenure at Alpine and experience across multiple F1 teams.
The points secured by Liam Lawson have contributed to widening Racing Bulls’ advantage over Aston Martin in the Constructors’ Championship standings, consolidating their position in seventh place overall. Reflecting on the race, Lawson expressed his satisfaction:
“I really enjoyed the race,” he stated after a Grand Prix that started in wet conditions. “In these kinds of situations, your instinct is often just to survive, so I’m really pleased with how it turned out for the team. Changing over to dry-weather tyres is always a tough call when the track is still damp, but the car had great pace, and once I found clean air, our race pace was very strong.
In a season like this one, where the competition is incredibly tight and every single detail can make a difference, the entire team is working hard to find small gains every weekend. Now we need to keep this momentum going and make sure we head into the summer break with a positive atmosphere and high morale.”
While Liam Lawson could celebrate his performance and look forward to the upcoming Hungarian Grand Prix with optimism, the same could not be said for his Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar. The French-Algerian rookie had been showing signs of improvement in recent rounds, with his most notable result being eighth place in the Sprint at Spa-Francorchamps. However, in the main race, Hadjar encountered technical issues that significantly hampered his performance.
Since the Spanish Grand Prix, Isack Hadjar has not been able to finish within the top ten in a Sunday race, and his efforts at Spa were again compromised—this time by a mechanical problem with his RB car.
“Unfortunately, we had a technical issue with the car for nearly the entire race,” Hadjar revealed after the chequered flag. “That cost me a lot of time every lap. We’ll have to analyse the issue carefully, but I already felt something was wrong while driving, so I just tried to adapt and give it everything I had despite the setback.”
Hadjar expressed his frustration, especially since the car had shown good performance in free air. “It was really frustrating because I could feel the car underneath me was performing well. It’s a real shame for the team, because everyone worked so hard and did a fantastic job. I genuinely believe we had the potential to score points with both cars today after what Liam achieved.”
Despite this disappointment, the young Racing Bulls driver remains hopeful. Looking ahead to the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring, Hadjar remains confident that he and the team can bounce back and fight once more for a place in the top ten. “I’m staying positive and looking forward to Budapest,” he concluded. “We’ll come back stronger next week.”
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