Racing Bulls End of Year Report: Building towards something bigger

With another year of Formula One action in the books, our writers review each F1 team’s 2025 campaign and assess their performance across the season. Over the course of the season, Racing Bulls climbed their way up the mid-field ranks. With a fresh driver lineup following Yuki Tsunoda’s move to Red Bull three races in, RB showed great consistency in their results, but errors held them back from their full potential. Here’s their end of year report.

Racing Bulls placed sixth in the Constructors' Standings with 92 points | Credit: Formula One

Last year, Racing Bulls finished eighth in the Constructors’ standings with 46 points. With double the points this year, they placed sixth, the best they have finished since 2021 under the name AlphaTauri.

There were some shuffles made within the team throughout the year, including Liam Lawson moving to RB from Red Bull as Tsunoda took his seat there. Additionally, Alex Permane took over as Team Principal in July as Laurent Mekies was promoted to Red Bull CEO. The engineer put his expertise to use and helped stabilise the team during the second half of the season, contributing to one of the team’s best Constructors’ finishes in recent years.

Significant progress was made this season at RB thanks to the young driver pairing of Isack Hadjar and Lawson. Hadjar quickly became one of the highest-rated rookies on the grid, impressing many onlookers and earning a promotion to Red Bull next season.

Lawson returned to a full-time F1 seat and refined his race craft at RB. Beginning the season at Red Bull before switching to RB was a blessing in disguise, as he slotted seamlessly into the team and formed an effective partnership with Hadjar throughout the year.

RB’s competitiveness was also helped by the more stable and predictable car compared to previous seasons. Although the VCARB 02 lacked outright pace compared to top teams, it proved reliable and gave the drivers the consistent platform to fight in the points.

Drivers’ Head-To-Head Performance

Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson made a strong pairing in 2025 | Credit: Formula One

In the first two races of 2025, we saw Hadjar and Tsunoda team up. By the Japanese Grand Prix, Tsunoda moved to Red Bull as a swap was made with Lawson.

With the lineup being Hadjar and Lawson for the rest of the season, the drivers managed to rack up a total of 92 points between them. Looking at both drivers head-to-head over the last season, it was relatively close between them in the end, but Hadjar had the edge over Lawson in qualifying and races.

Hadjar outqualified Lawson 16 times in 2025, with Lawson starting ahead only six times. In sprint qualifying, Hadjar took all five over his teammate.

In races, Lawson was only slightly behind his rookie teammate, with him finishing ahead of Hadjar eight times compared to Hadjar’s 13. This is excluding the British Grand Prix as both drivers retired. Hadjar still took the edge over Lawson in sprint races, taking the lead 4-1.

In the end, Hadjar placed 12th with 51 points and Lawson finished in 14th place with 38 points.

Best Moments

The best moment for RB this season was also a career high for Hadjar as the French driver took his first ever podium finish at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Hadjar took his maiden F1 podium finish at the Dutch Grand Prix | Credit: Formula One

Despite breaking the trophy when celebrating on the podium, this was a pivotal moment for RB and Hadjar. It showed the potential for the team to achieve more results like this one, and allowed Hadjar to prove himself in his rookie season.

There were several more solid results for the RB duo this season, with both drivers regularly finishing in the points and proving difficult to beat on their best days. For Lawson, his best finish was in Azerbaijan in fifth place. 

Worst Moments

The season didn’t kick off as planned for the team. In what was his first race weekend as an official F1 driver, Hadjar crashed out on the formation lap and did not manage to start the race in Australia.

The British Grand Prix was a particularly low point for the team as both drivers did not finish the race. With a heavy downpour and chaotic opening lap, Lawson clashed with Ocon and was first out of the race, retiring after the incident.

Both drivers did not finish the race at Silverstone | Credit: Formula One

Following a Safety Car period, Hadjar collided with the back of Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes and also had to retire instantly. With the wrong strategy and low visibility, it was a nightmare weekend for the pair as they lost vital points to their mid-field rivals.

Mistakes like these are what will hold RB back from consistently challenging the teams ahead of them. Unless they can refine their strategy execution and reduce these errors, the team will quickly fall behind in the already tight midfield battle.

Looking Ahead

In 2026, Liam Lawson will remain at Racing Bulls as Isack Hadjar is promoted to Red Bull, with 18-year-old Arvid Lindblad stepping up to replace him in his maiden F1 season. 

RB have the potential to make their way further up the ranks. Lindblad has shown promising skills in the junior categories, while Lawson’s strong 2025 campaign provides a reliable reference point for the team. If this past year has shown anything, it is that RB is building towards something bigger. 

Arvid Lindblad will make his full-time F1 driver debut in 2026 | Credit: Formula One

The introduction of the 2026 regulations will bring a new challenge for each driver on the grid. For RB, adapting to a new generation of cars after a year of stability will be a key test of their long-term progress. But with the positive results this year, there should be confidence that the team can carry their momentum forward.

On top of the new car regulations, there will be another team to outscore, with Cadillac joining the grid with two experienced drivers on their team. With more rivals arriving and less margin for error, 2026 will reveal whether RB can turn their steady progress into upward momentum.