Thursday in Azerbaijan brought wildly contrasting fortunes for Racing Bulls, featuring a welcome homecoming on one side of the garage and a harsh reminder of street-circuit reality on the other. Liam Lawson stepped back into his familiar seat following his stint with Red Bull, while rookie Arvid Lindblad faced the unforgiving walls of Baku.
Both drivers managed a positive opening to the weekend during the first session, securing seventh and eighth places respectively. But the afternoon running completely changed the complexion of their day. Lawson continued building his rhythm inside the machine, though FP2 brought a hair-raising moment when the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton suddenly loomed in his path during a flying lap in the final sector, forcing the New Zealander into hasty evasive action.
For Lindblad, the second session was cut short just twenty minutes in. The British driver caught the barriers through the castle section, ripping up the right-hand side of his car and triggering a red flag. It marked a repeat of his FP2 crash in Madrid during the previous round. Radioing his engineers immediately, Lindblad offered an apology and explained that he had clipped the wall by a mere millimetre.
Team Principal Alan Permane refused to come down hard on the youngster following the incident. Pointing out that Lindblad had simply misjudged it by a millimetre while looking genuinely fast, Permane framed the shunt as rookie enthusiasm rather than a punishable offense, noting that the team would focus on the positive pace he showed before the crash.
Permane also expressed clear relief at having Lawson back in the fold after his three-race assignment covering Isack Hadjar at the sister team Red Bull. While acknowledging the popularity of Yuki Tsunoda, the boss emphasized the value of having Lawson paired with Lindblad to push each other forward.
Reflecting on his return, Lawson admitted it felt like coming home. He noted a strong performance in the morning, though the squad lacked comparative speed as rivals made a step forward in the second session. With overnight setup changes targeted at low-speed corners, the team is aiming to break into the top 10 during Friday's qualifying.
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