Liam Lawson showing off ‘very distinctive’ advantage that could make … — and more

While Red Bull were getting praise for how well their new power unit performed, things weren’t as consistent down at the other end of the pit lane for Racing Bulls.

Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad gave a good account of themselves, suggesting the VCARB 03 should be competitive in the midfield early on. But reliability issues kept both drivers from ranking high on the lap count charts.

Lawson has shown some strong top speeds already, but consistency will be crucial over race distances. Drivers who can’t manage their battery usage effectively each lap may find themselves falling behind.

Ted Kravitz has generally been optimistic about Racing Bulls so far, but there’s a growing concern around the grid about race starts. This could put any qualifying gains at risk if not addressed quickly.

On a positive note, it doesn’t seem like Racing Bulls are among the teams most affected by this issue so far.

How Red Bull’s Power Unit Compares to Other Teams Under the New Start Rules

One of the big questions heading into this season is how teams will manage the new engine regulations, especially with drivers no longer getting battery support off the line. Turbo lag could play a bigger role in how well they launch.

A report from The Race provided some insight into how different teams managed under these changes.

Based on what’s available so far, Lawson’s Racing Bulls had the shortest launch sequence at six seconds, though it was described as ‘messy’ due to uneven revving from the Red Bull engine and a somewhat flat start.

Even if Lawson didn’t nail the getaway, only needing six seconds to prepare for all five lights to go out could stand him in good stead.

By comparison, Oliver Bearman’s Haas held revs for 11 seconds before moving, while Gabriel Bortoleto’s Audi-powered car took 13.5 seconds.

Valtteri Bottas’ Cadillac has the same Ferrari power unit as Bearman’s car and also took 11 seconds.

The Honda engine continues to draw mixed reviews. Lance Stroll had to restart his first practice attempt after issues with what some described as an ‘unrefined’-sounding unit.

McLaren stood out positively, with an eight-second launch that sounded much smoother. Still, these times are notably longer than what we’ve seen in past seasons and will be something for the FIA to monitor going forward.

Oliver Bearman weighs in on how 2026 Formula 1 race starts have changed

Oliver Bearman shared his thoughts on the 2026 grand prix starts, whilst talking to The Race, saying: “Now we have to spend a lot longer doing the wait phase prior to doing the actual start, and it’s really on a knife-edge to get it right.

“It’s really a matter of milliseconds; if you’re too late or too early by half a second, then it doesn’t work.

“So it’s complicated, and so far we haven’t been consistent at all with the practice starts, which is a bit worrying, but I think we start to understand why and as we understand the engine more, things will get easier.

“It’s not as easy as a throttle position equals a certain power from the engine. And then of course, you have the transition to MGU-K at a certain speed as well, which is proving challenging to implement properly.

“It’s tough for everyone, that’s for sure. You see everyone sitting on the grid for 20 seconds with their rpm all over the place, and it shows that we’re not the only ones struggling with that.”

If Racing Bulls find themselves stuck in midfield again this year, Lawson will be looking for any edge he can find.

The Red Bull power unit has looked strong early on, but there are still questions about just how competitive Racing Bulls’ VCARB 03 chassis will be over a full season.

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Red Bull veteran Formula 1 chief designer Craig Skinner has left the Milton Keynes team, Motorsport.com can confirm.

Skinner was an integral part of its success in recent seasons, as it established a second era of dominance powering Max Verstappen to four, consecutive titles from 2021 to 2024. However, following rumours of his departure, Red Bull confirmed to Motorsport.com that Skinner has moved on from the role. His exit is not thought to be connected to previous high-profile departures at the team in recent years.

An engineering graduate from the University of Glasgow, Skinner went on to join Red Bull at the start of the 2006 season, around the same time as design legend Adrian Newey, as a CFD engineer before graduating to senior roles within the aerodynamics department. Following a four-year stint as chief of aerodynamics, Skinner became the chief designer in 2022, working closely with Newey and technical director Pierre Wache.

Newey has since left for Aston Martin, and following the exit of former team boss Christian Horner last July, Skinner is the latest senior technical member to leave, with sporting director Jonathan Wheatley now heading up Audi's F1 team and chief strategist Will Courtenay moving to McLaren.

All Mercedes teams praise Red Bull’s new engine – but how political is it?

Max Verstappen demolishes "anti-racing" and "not fun" 2026 F1 cars

Red Bull: “We are the fourth team – Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren are faster”

But under team principal Laurent Mekies, the new-look Red Bull enjoyed a resurgence over the latter half of 2025, and it also made a promising start to the 2026 pre-season. With assistance from Ford, Red Bull's RB22 features the squad's first-ever in-house power unit, which has defied expectations thus far – drawing praise for its efficient electric energy deployment.

But while praising the effort the team at the Milton Keynes campus had made, four-time world champion Verstappen hasn't been a big fan of the incoming regulations yet, calling the new cars "anti-racing" and "not fun" to drive given the lengths drivers have to go to in order to harvest electric energy.

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Edelman, who is competing in both skeleton and bobsleigh events, was targeted by Renna who questioned the IOC's decision to include him in the Games. The Israeli athlete described the comments as a 'diatribe'.

Renna allegedly referred to Edelman as a 'genocide-supporting Zionist' during the broadcast, prompting strong reactions from the Olympian and others.

Liam Lawson has revealed that he has deleted social media while opening up about online hate.

The New Zealander has faced his fair share of online scrutiny, especially after being demoted to Racing Bulls after just two race weekends with Red Bull at the start of 2025. 

The 24-year-old driver confirmed during an appearance on the Gypsy Tales Podcast that the online hate led him to delete his social media channels, a decision he has not regretted since.

"It's so much better. So, so much better," the Racing Bulls driver explained. "It can be such a toxic place. I feel for people. I also left school when I was young, but I feel like I scraped through the age where social media was big. In New Zealand at least, Facebook was probably the main one. Instagram was pretty new."

He added: "I feel like yeah, [New Zealand is] really behind in some ways, which is great. So good because now bullying in school is something that you can't escape when you go home just because of social media.

"99% of the time, what people would say online, [they] would never have the balls to say to somebody's face. And it's the same in our sport when we're dealing with it.

"Obviously, I don't read it now, but it's that kind of thing. The amount of negativity around drivers or people that fans don't like and just the amount of negative comments that get put out there and crazy things that are being said.

Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls

"You would never even say that in person, let alone have the balls to go up to somebody to do that, but to say some of the crazy things that these guys come up with, it's way too easy, you know. Jack Doohan went through it at the start of the year. I know, even when they started talking about the Franco Colapinto switch all of his Instagram comments were just Argentinian flags.

"So insane and unhinged that you have to deal with that level. I mean it's good that people care, but that's too much, way too much caring. When you really support your driver, but don't go on the guy that you're not supporting and just blow up his comment section with negativity."

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German combined skiers were previously viewed as a safe medal bank, but their performance has not met expectations during the Winter Games in Northern Italy.