© GETTY IMAGES / RED BULL CONTENT POOL
It’s Round 19 of the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship (Round 19!! Can you believe it??) and we’re straight back on it after a rootin-tootin visit to Austin last week (no, we’re not over seeing Liam Lawson & Friends live, either).
A little Mexican culture between sessions© GETTY IMAGES / RED BULL CONTENT POOLBut this week, we’ve travelled 1,400 km south to Mexico City, over 2,000 metres above sea level, to the circuit with the highest altitude on the entire Formula 1 calendar. We’re at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez for the FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE LA CIUDAD DE MÉXICO 2026.
As is tradition around here, we like to start off our weekends with some superb artwork, this time from @mfrancescamelis as part of the VCARB Creator Platform Race Poster competition. We also released a 1:1 guitar lesson video, hosted by Liam Lawson and attended by Arvid Lindblad. We can see Arvid being a whizz on the strings in no time… But while we wait for Arvid’s debut solo album, we thought we’d dish out a dose of ragebait on the other side of the garage, much to Liam’s delight (and relief).
Finally, Arvid had us questioning everything when he confidently mistook a toy cow for a panda. Yes, really.
Of course, this wouldn’t be a Grand Prix running during the Halloween weekend without some absolutely terrifying fancy dress ideas and a bit of trick-or-treating. Take your pick: Pumpkin Liam or Spooky Arvid?
This weekend, we also welcomed Red Bull Junior Team Driver Nikola Tsolov, current Formula 2 championship contender, who stepped in for Liam Lawson during FP1, making the Bulgarian driver’s official Formula 1 debut. P12 and just over 1.4 seconds shy of the fastest session time isn’t a bad way to make a strong first impression in F1.
A special FP1 outing for Nikola Tsolov© GETTY IMAGES / RED BULL CONTENT POOLNikola debriefed us on his time in the seat of the VCARB 03.
With Liam back in the seat in Free Practice 2, he and Arvid were immediately on the pace and were both within a second of the fastest lap time, set by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Arvid gave his thoughts on his return to Mexico, having run in FP1 last year.
On Saturday, both cars were in the top ten during FP3 and within six tenths of the fastest lap time, which set the precedent for Qualifying later in the day. P12 for Liam and P14 for Arvid saw them both move through to Q2, where they improved on their times and positions: P8 for Arvid and P9 for Liam. In Q3, Arvid set a lap just six tenths off the pace of Lewis Hamilton’s pole position time. Liam had initially gone one step higher, qualifying P8, but was unfortunately disqualified for an infringement with his VCARB 03’s MGU-K. While no advantage was gained, Liam was ordered to start from the back of the grid. We decided to take a new power unit in the wake of Liam’s disqualification, meaning he started Sunday’s Grand Prix from the pit lane.
With Liam’s qualifying disqualification, Arvid moved up to P8 on the starting grid, opting for fresh Soft tyres to kick off proceedings. Liam picked the yellow-banded Medium tyres to begin his charge from pit lane. Arvid made a stellar race start, making up two spots and sitting in P6 by Lap 2. Liam had also made up a position after Hadjar fell to the back of the pack due to a collision with Russell. Liam gained a further two positions as both Aston Martins retired from the race on Lap 4 and Lap 7, with the latter retirement from Stroll bringing out a temporary Virtual Safety Car. Since it was too early to pit, both drivers remained out on track.
Racing with a view© GETTY IMAGES / RED BULL CONTENT POOLOnce racing was back underway, Liam got ahead of the Cadillac of Valtteri Bottas and was soon on the back of Hirakawa’s Haas, fighting for P17. Arvid settled into his race in P8 after Piastri made an overtake on Lap 12, which coincided with Liam’s first pit stop, where the Kiwi swapped to Soft tyres after his initial charge through the pack. Arvid’s one and only pit stop came on Lap 36, swapping to the Medium tyre and emerging within the top 10, hot on the heels of the two Alpines. Meanwhile, Liam was making light work of the field, making his way past both Williams cars and the Haas of Hirakawa before pitting for his second change of tyres on Lap 43.
One lap later, Valtteri Bottas suffered a suspension failure at Turn 1 and brought out the Red Flag due to damage to the safety barrier. After a brief pause to the racing, we were soon back on track, with Arvid in P8 and Liam in P15 for the standing start, beginning on Lap 48. Before you had a chance to say ‘blimey, the VCARB boys are absolutely flying here in Mexico’, Arvid moved into P7 and Liam made up four places on the restart, sitting on the fringe of the points in P11.
LL30 in Mexico© GETTY IMAGES / RED BULL CONTENT POOLWe were looking set for another double-points finish in 2026, further solidifying our grip on P5 in the Constructors’ Championship. However, Arvid crashed out of the Grand Prix after colliding with Piastri on Lap 59, which brought out the Safety Car. Arvid was okay, thankfully, but it still hurts just the same, as he was on for a solid P7 finish. Oscar received a penalty for the collision which in turn promoted Liam up a place and secured him a few extra championship points, all the more impressive considering he started from the pit lane. With all post-race penalties applied, Liam finished in P7 securing 6 points.
Final Mexico City GP results:
Liam: Started in the pit lane, finished P7 (+6 points)
Arvid: Started P8, DNF (collision with Piastri, Lap 59)
Here are the thoughts and feelings of Alan, Liam and Arvid after the Mexico City Grand Prix:
ALAN PERMANE (TEAM PRINCIPAL)
“A long and tough day today. Arvid drove an absolutely superb race and has had a fantastic weekend overall. He nailed the start and continued to chip away gaining two, three, even four tenths a lap, all while managing his tyres. The crash with Piastri was an unfortunate end to an exemplary weekend and it’s a small consolation that Oscar received a penalty.
“Liam also had a challenging race. The penalty from qualifying put us on the back foot, but we took the opportunity to fit a fresh power unit, which he would have needed to. take at some point this season anyway. With Alpine’s penalty, Liam ultimately finished seventh, having started from the pitlane, which is an incredible effort and a great result for the team.
“We leave today with some valuable points and plenty of positives to take forward as we head to Brazil next week to close out the triple header.”
LIAM LAWSON #30
Race – Finish Position: 7th, Start Position: Pit Lane “It was a tough race today, but to come away with points having started from the pit lane is a positive to take away. I definitely think we had the potential to gain more positions given the speed of the car, however it puts us in a strong position as we head to Brazil next week. It’s obviously a big shame that Arvid wasn’t able to finish the race, but I’m glad he’s okay. As a team we’ll continue to focus on our fight for P5 in the Championship.”
ARVID LINDBLAD #41
Race – Finish Position: DNF , Start Position: 8th: "Obviously today wasn’t the result we wanted. We were in a good position to score some points, so it’s a shame about the collision on track with Oscar. However, the pace has been there all weekend, which is a big positive to take away. After the past few races and the crashes in Madrid and Baku, I lost a bit of rhythm and confidence and wasn’t able to push to my full potential, but I’m finally starting to feel back to normal. I’m looking forward to closing out this triple-header next week in Brazil, it’ll be another exciting weekend.”
Where next?
We’re back on track in a matter of days for the final round of this triple header. From 6-8 November, join Arvid, Liam, Alan and the entire VCARB family in São Paulo for the Formula 1 MSC Cruises Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2026.
From all of us here in Mexico City, ¡nos vemos la próxima semana, amigo!
