© Visa Cash App Racing Bulls
We’re in the heart of Brazilian motorsport for Round 20 of the 2026 FIA Formula 1 World Championship for one of the most unpredictable and exciting races of the year. The Autódromo José Carlos Pace, also known as Interlagos, is infamous for throwing together dramatic mixed weather action. Will this year follow suit? Let’s find out together.
AL41 Diwali Lid© Visa Cash App Racing BullsTo kick things off, Arvid had a special announcement. Our rookie tapped into his Indian heritage and brought a stunning Diwali-inspired helmet to Brazil. We even gave his side of the garage a little Diwali spruce to cement the occasion. Since Arvid couldn’t be at home with his family, where better to celebrate the Festival of Lights than the São Paulo Grand Prix? In fact, he even brought his maternal grandparents, Nani and Nana, with him to the circuit! However, since everyone wanted a piece of this fine specimen of a helmet, Arvid was often left wondering where he’d left it…
The celebrations didn’t stop there. This week’s Creator Platform race poster was the fine work of @miggiebacungan, who captured the beauty of Brazil, from the sandy beaches to the urban towns, in a colourful and abstract style with the VCARB 03 front and centre. And whilst we’re on the topic of iconic pieces of art, we challenged the boys to come up with each other’s football celebrations, with the results being as Lawblad-coded as you’d expect.
Just one more pre-race celebration, then we’ll get into the action, we promise. Our Team Principal & Co-CEO Sporting, Alan Permane, will be with the team until at least 2031. We’re grateful for all of your hard work, Alan!
ㅤ.
With that all being said (and the AL41 support crew on-site), we saw cars hit the track for the first time. In Free Practice 1, Liam’s best time placed him P10, less than a second off the fastest time from Lando Norris. Arvid was a mere three-tenths further back in P14. For FP2, it was Arvid who led the VCARB duo, with his best time placing him in P12, with Liam just one place further back. A solid start to proceedings from the boys, with their sights set on positive Qualifying and Race sessions:
Saturday brought with it not only FP3 and Qualifying, but lots and lots (and lots) of rain. To make sure our forecasting was accurate, we got a deeper analysis from our on-site weather expert.
Do you know what else they predicted? Another Liam Q3 finish. That’s right, after a dramatic, rain-delayed session, Liam set the fifth-fastest time in Q3. But wait, there’s MORE. Grid penalties were aplenty and Liam was bumped up to P3 for the race. P3!!!! Liam Lawson!!! P3 Qualifying for Liam Lawson at the São Paulo Grand Prix!!! No better way to say it: EVERYBODY liked that.
A celebratory trip to the movies was on the cards, as long as we sat in the second row, obvs. Sadly, the weather experts did not foresee a power unit issue with Arvid’s car, which stunted his charge and left him with a best lap good enough for P14. However, an engine and turbocharger change incurred a penalty on the following day, dropping him to P18 on the grid for the start of the Race. Arvid remained positive about his first F1 weekend in Brazil:
Shall we get into the Race, then?
For the wet (ish) start, the entire field opted for Intermediate tyres. Liam had a stonking launch and was past Norris by the time he exited the Senna S, chasing down Kimi Antonelli for P1. That’s right, our very own Liam Lawson overtook a World Champion in pursuit of another World Champion. You love to see it.
Fighting at the front© GETTY IMAGES / RED BULL CONTENT POOLLiam wasn’t the only one making moves. Arvid had gained five positions by the second lap, running in P13 in a close battle with Fernando Alonso: the oldest and youngest drivers on the grid mere millimetres apart. Arvid continued to head towards the sharp end, passing Sainz and Hamilton to reach P11 by Lap 9. Liam was passed by Norris on Lap 6 and held onto his track position as long as he possibly could before Hadjar and Russell followed suit. Verstappen passed Liam on Lap 12, and our resident Kiwi settled into P6 as he approached the first pit stop.
Every second counts© Visa Cash App Racing BullsThe track began to dry around Lap 17. Liam and Arvid boxed on the same lap for Soft slick tyres and shared equally impressive outlaps to maintain track position. By Lap 18, their tyres were so fresh (and so, so warm) that Liam had worked his way back into P5 and Arvid reached the points in P10. In fact, the pair of them were fighting with Grand Prix winners and World Champions for the whole race, and often coming out on top. Properly impressive stuff.
Rain? No problem© GETTY IMAGES / RED BULL CONTENT POOLThe laps clicked off and the track was getting into a good state. After all, nothing dries out a track more than Formula 1 cars on the absolute limits. Arvid and Liam made a second stop for fresh Soft tyres on Laps 46 and 49 respectively. BUT THEN, on Lap 60, more rain made its way onto the near-dry tarmac of Interlagos. Liam managed two more laps on slicks but boxed on Lap 62 – Arvid followed the next lap. Back on Inters, the race was drawing to a close and Liam was producing a defensive masterclass against Charles Leclerc, who eventually found his way past following contact in the closing laps. However, the stewards had the final say, handing Leclerc a five-second penalty and promoting Liam back up to P7! Arvid’s charge into the points was undone when Hulkenberg made a pass in the last few laps, meaning the race ended with:
Liam - P7 (+6 points)
Arvid - P11 (+0 points)
What did our drivers think of their wet weekend in São Paulo?
LIAM LAWSON #30
Race – Finish Position: 7th, Start Position: 3rd
“Today was a really good day for us. We had a strong race and made the most of everything we had available. I had great grip on the opening lap and was able to fight with the top teams, but over a long stint we don’t quite have the pace to match them, so I focused on not losing too much time. We’ve had a really decent triple-header with plenty of positives to take away, and I’ve genuinely enjoyed it. I’ll take a few days to relax and recharge before the final few races of the season. I’m already looking forward to heading back to Las Vegas."
ARVID LINDBLAD #41
Race – Finish Position: 11th, Start Position: 18th
"It was an enjoyable race and I had a lot of fun out there coming through from the back. It's disappointing to not come away with any points, especially after showing good pace and genuinely feeling we were in contention for a points finish for most of the race. Unfortunately, things became more difficult over the final 20 laps. I lost quite a bit of time battling Franco and struggled with drivability issues in the wet conditions towards the end of the race. This made it particularly hard to fight Nico as I was trying to keep the car on track. We'll review everything with the team to understand what we could've done better. It's not the way I wanted to end this triple-header, as I feel I've made some positive steps forward in terms of driving, but things haven't always gone our way. We'll take the learnings from this weekend, shift our focus and look ahead to the next race in Las Vegas."
ALAN PERMANE (TEAM PRINCIPAL)
“It's been another strong weekend from the team. It was an exciting first lap from Liam, jumping from third to second and keeping that position for some time. That being said, we have to be realistic that it would've always been a big ask to beat any of the top teams. As such, our focus was on making the correct strategy decisions when it mattered, which we did, meaning Liam finished in P8. Arvid also had a very strong race from the back of the grid to P11. His race pace was very strong, so there are lots of positives to take forward. It's great to be rounding off this challenging triple header with more points as we fight for P5 in the Constructors' Championship. We look forward to a break next weekend before we head to Las Vegas."
Vegas up next© GETTY IMAGES / RED BULL CONTENT POOLWe’re thinking it, you’re thinking it too: “Where next, admin?”
No racing next week, unfortunately (cue the violins), but we’re back from 20-22 November for the glitz and glamour of the Formula 1 Heineken Las Vegas Grand Prix 2026.
Get practising on your Elvis impressions, and we’ll see you there, uh huh huh.
