Lindblad pleased with ‘damage limitation’ for Racing Bulls at Monza

Here's the thing about a weekend where your direct rivals find something genuinely wild on the straights: you take whatever points you can grab and breathe a sigh of relief. That is exactly what Racing Bulls managed at the Italian Grand Prix, securing a double points finish that Arvid Lindblad didn't hesitate to label as pure "damage limitation." The team remains locked in a fierce, gritty battle with Alpine for fifth position in the Teams’ Championship, fighting to claim the coveted ‘best of the rest’ title behind the heavyweight front-runners Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull.

Now, the Autodromo Nazionale Monza nearly became an Alpine showcase. Pierre Gasly delivered an absolute shocker of a Qualifying performance to charge his way to pole position, leaving Lindblad fighting at the tail-end of the top 10 as stand-in team mate Yuki Tsunoda stumbled at the Q1 hurdle. But Sunday is where the machines have to actually survive the distance. Gasly ultimately fell away from the leading group to cross the line in seventh, slotting in right ahead of Lindblad, with Franco Colapinto piloting the other Alpine behind them, and Tsunoda completing a hard-fought recovery drive.

When the dust settled, the championship math left Racing Bulls holding firm at P5 with 75 points, while Alpine sits at 62, comfortably ahead of their next nearest rivals Haas on 21. Lindblad was remarkably candid about how they managed to contain the bleeding. Speaking after the race, he noted that on a weekend where Alpine clearly brought something special on the straights, splitting their cars was a very good result. Given that Pierre started on pole and Lindblad lined up down in P10, finishing right behind him felt like a solid win.

It also highlights a remarkably consistent run for Lindblad, who has now scored points in seven of the last eight Grands Prix. He rightly credited the team for building a strong, robust machine that behaves well on every circuit. Even though Alpine held a clear straight-line speed advantage at Monza, Lindblad pointed out that through the corners the Racing Bulls were matching them, if not going quicker. Since corners generally dictate the race pace at most tracks, that balance gives the squad plenty of confidence for the upcoming rounds.

Meanwhile, Tsunoda had to dig deep just to salvage his afternoon, finishing 13 seconds behind Lindblad after dodging a potential penalty for a start procedure infringement. The stewards looked into the incident after he missed his grid slot at the race restart. Smiling afterwards, Tsunoda admitted to a bit of confusion having spent months away from racing since Abu Dhabi in 2025, laughing it off as a very bad excuse. Despite the frustration of crashing out early in Q1 when the pace was clearly there, he was just happy to bring crucial points home for the team in their scrap against Alpine.