Arvid Lindblad Ignores Order Not to Pass Liam Lawson

Liam Lawson admits he will be more cautious when racing close to team-mate Arvid Lindblad following the internal Racing Bulls tensions at the 2026 Austrian Grand Prix. The New Zealander nevertheless insists that his overall approach to racing will not change.

The incident occurred while Lawson and Lindblad were fighting over ninth place at the Red Bull Ring. Lindblad ignored an instruction to hold position and attacked Lawson, who was managing excessive brake temperatures at that stage of the race.

Lawson had been informed that Lindblad would not attempt an overtake. He therefore lifted earlier than usual, but Lindblad still completed a forceful move that pushed his team-mate towards the gravel and gave him ninth position.

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The situation prompted an angry radio response from Lawson. The 24-year-old told race engineer Alexandre Iliopoulos that he would not follow a similar instruction again if an internal agreement was not respected by both sides of the garage.

Racing Bulls later corrected the order through its pit-stop strategy. Lawson received the undercut during the second sequence of stops, rejoined ahead of Lindblad and maintained ninth place to the finish, while his team-mate completed the race in 10th.

The result secured a double-points finish for Racing Bulls. Lawson also continued his strong start to the season by reaching 30 points from the opening eight rounds, although the Austrian incident raised questions over how team orders should be managed when the two drivers are following different strategic priorities.

Team principal Alan Permane told Lawson to remain calm over the radio on the cooldown lap and confirmed that the matter would be handled internally. The post-race discussion mainly concerned Lindblad’s decision not to follow the instruction he had received.

“For me, it was resolved in the race because I got my position back. By the time we finished the race, I was completely fine,” Lawson said ahead of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone Circuit.

“I just tried to do my part in the race. It was more of a discussion between the team and him than something involving me,” he added.

Lindblad also confirmed that the matter had been discussed after the race and was now considered settled. Racing Bulls did not announce any internal punishment, but reinforcing the requirement to follow team instructions formed an important part of its review.

“Maybe I’ll be more aware, but I’m not going to change my approach. A specific situation like that can be quite rare, so it is unlikely to happen very often,” Lawson said.

Lawson is attempting to close the dispute before the next round, but the Austrian experience may influence how much confidence he places in team instructions when he is again running close to Lindblad. Racing Bulls must now ensure that its communication and strategy calls are applied consistently so that internal competition does not reduce its points-scoring opportunities during the next phase of the 2026 Formula 1 season.