Lindblad rues VSC timing as Racing Bulls look to Budapest upgrade boost

Lindblad’s points run continues despite lost position

Arvid Lindblad extended his points-scoring streak to five races at Spa, but the Racing Bulls driver believes a Virtual Safety Car intervention denied him a stronger result in the Belgian Grand Prix.

Lindblad started from behind because of grid penalties, yet finished ahead of Isack Hadjar and Lando Norris. He subsequently lost another position to Gabriel Bortoleto after Audi brought the Brazilian into the pits under the Virtual Safety Car.

The result was still a strong one for Lindblad, who felt Racing Bulls had extracted the maximum from its weekend. “Definitely it’s been a very strong weekend for us. I think we’ve really maximised in each session,” he said.

However, he made clear that the timing of Audi’s gamble had changed the outcome. “For sure it’s a little bit of a shame to lose to Audi because I think with a normal race we would have had the P8, but fair play to them, they rolled the dice and capitalised on the VSC.”

The late fight with Bortoleto provided a final highlight. Lindblad described it as an entertaining, flat-out battle and said Racing Bulls could be satisfied with its execution across the weekend. The team’s Spa performance can be viewed alongside Isack Hadjar’s sixth-place finish after a double-pitstop strategy, another example of how decisions under changing race conditions shaped the result.

Lawson frustrated as Alpine draws level

Liam Lawson endured a more difficult afternoon, finishing 12th after being beaten by Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly. The result leaves Alpine and Racing Bulls tied on points in the Teams’ standings.

Lawson’s assessment was blunt. “We were too slow overall,” he said. “It’s frustrating, but honestly after Qualifying, I knew we weren’t as quick as we needed to be. Good start but just fighting a losing battle through the race.”

Budapest upgrade focus

Racing Bulls will take its upgraded package to Budapest, where Lawson is set to receive the same specification already used by Lindblad. Lindblad expects the upgrade “to be even more powerful” at the next circuit, although Lawson acknowledged that Budapest represents a different challenge.

“It’s positive at least, one car is very, very quick. Hopefully that translates to us next week but we’ll find out,” Lawson said. “It’s obviously a very different track in Budapest but I’m definitely excited to get out of here and over to there.”