What an absolute machine of a start. According to Speedcafe, Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson pulled off quite literally one of the best getaways of his entire career at Sepang, rocketing from 11th on the grid straight into the leading mix before the race even settled.
When things finally got going following a nearly two-hour delay, he wasted zero time. Lawson was wheel-to-wheel with Max Verstappen by the first corner in a fierce battle for third, though the eventual winner ultimately kept the position. Through a chaotic afternoon defined by shifting weather conditions, Safety Cars, and relentless position changes, the New Zealander kept himself firmly in the points fight. As the heavier hitters eventually pushed through, with Isack Hadjar, Lewis Hamilton, Oscar Piastri, Charles Leclerc, and Lando Norris all passing him prior to his final pit stop, Lawson refused to buckle.
A late Safety Car turned the chaos up another notch entirely. George Russell retired from third, and Norris got forced off at the opening corner as the pack concertinaed. At the restart, Lawson managed a brief, brilliant move past Piastri through Turns 2 and 3, before the McLaren driver snatched sixth back at Turn 4. Crossing the line right behind Piastri in seventh capped off a stunning drive, and Lawson admitted he was thrilled with the result after thinking earlier that a ninth-place finish was all his strong afternoon was going to yield. “We got lucky at the end with a couple of those guys not finishing. So yeah, very happy,” he said.
Down at the back of the grid, rookie Arvid Lindblad was busy pulling off his own miracle. Starting dead last, the Brit fought through what he called one of the busiest days of his Formula 1 career to drag his car home in 10th place, grabbing the final world championship point. Lindblad called it a pretty nuts day that delivered way more than they could have imagined, even if he openly admitted his own middle stint lacked the pace he wanted.
That double-points haul was massive for the constructor standings. With Alpine showing stronger pace over the last two weekends, brilliant strategic decision-making and that stunning start allowed Racing Bulls to outscore their rivals once again. It marks the team's seventh double-points finish of 2026, leaving them 22 points clear in fifth place in the constructors' championship.
To top it all off, the wider Red Bull family had plenty more to celebrate. Max Verstappen took the overall victory, handing RBPT Ford its very first Formula 1 win. The circus now packs up immediately, heading straight to the Singapore Grand Prix next weekend.
