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Lawson Survives Safety Cars to Finish Seventh in Bahrain

By Drooid · Oct 4, 2026, 3:16 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Lawson Secures Seventh

Liam Lawson finished seventh at the Bahrain Grand Prix after starting P11.
A safety-car on lap nine let him pit for hard tyres, preserving fifth place after the restart.
Further safety-car periods and the retirements of George Russell and Alex Albon lifted Lawson to seventh.
Teammate Arvid Lindblad climbed from the back of the grid to tenth, earning Racing Bulls a point.

Summary

Verstappen Leads Practice

Max Verstappen set the fastest time in opening practice at Sepang, ahead of George Russell and Isack Hadjar.
Franco Colapinto led the first practice lap on soft tyres while most drivers used medium compounds.
Colapinto carries a 15-place penalty—five for Baku and ten for a power-unit swap.
Pierre Gasly topped FP2 with a 1:38.588 soft-tyre lap after earlier P7 and P10 runs.

History

Historical Context

The Bahrain Grand Prix debuted on 4 April 2004, the first Formula One race in the Middle East and winner of the FIA’s Best-Organised award. In 2005 Ferrari’s new F2005 and Michael Schumacher’s early retirement in a 57-lap race highlighted technical and strategic shifts. Cancellations in 2011 and safety-car-heavy 2024 races show political unrest and evolving race-control tactics shaping the event.

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Lawson Secures Seventh

Liam Lawson finished seventh at the Bahrain Grand Prix after starting P11.
A safety-car on lap nine let him pit for hard tyres, preserving fifth place after the restart.
Further safety-car periods and the retirements of George Russell and Alex Albon lifted Lawson to seventh.
Teammate Arvid Lindblad climbed from the back of the grid to tenth, earning Racing Bulls a point.

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