The New Zealander finished 12th at Spa-Francorchamps as Lindblad used Racing Bulls’ full upgrade package to claim ninth place and two championship points.
Lawson had been without the complete package after Lindblad earned priority for the new parts by winning a qualifying contest between the teammates at Silverstone.
However, the 24-year-old did not believe the difference between the two cars fully explained the half-second gap that separated them in qualifying or Lindblad’s stronger race pace.
“Overall, we should have an even stronger car, hopefully, this weekend,” Lawson said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
“Obviously, for me, hopefully, it’s a step closer to the other car because that was a big deficit last weekend, but I also can’t sit here and say that it’s just the upgrade that was different because it wasn’t meant to be that big.
“So there’s definitely a lot of things that we’ve looked into from last weekend to try and fix for this weekend, and we’ll find out pretty quickly as well, obviously, when we get going tomorrow.”
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Lawson was set to receive the same upgrade package in Hungary as Racing Bulls sought to establish whether the revised parts accounted for the performance difference or other problems had contributed to his difficult weekend.
His 12th-place finish ended a five-race points-scoring streak and marked his lowest result since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Pierre Gasly with a ringside seat on a fierce battle between the two Racing Bulls ⚔️#F1 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/YefZREcvfq
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Lawson initially climbed from ninth to sixth on the opening lap at Spa but gradually fell backwards before finishing three positions behind Lindblad.
The teammates also fought closely after Lawson’s pit stop, running side-by-side through Eau Rouge and along the Kemmel Straight before Lindblad completed the pass.
Lawson admitted he had little chance of keeping the rookie behind given their respective pace.
“Honestly, I mean, last weekend he was definitely quicker,” he said.
“So it wasn’t something I could really fight too hard against, honestly; he was going to drive away from me anyway, so it’s all good.”
Despite their increasingly frequent battles on track, both drivers played down any suggestion that their rivalry had damaged their relationship.
Lindblad said Lawson had congratulated him immediately after the race despite losing out in their fight.
“We raced hard in Spa, and as soon as we saw each other after the race he told me ‘well done and a good race’ – and I think that was really impressive from him, and I’ve always tried to do the same,” Lindblad said.
Lawson was equally positive about the contest, which received limited television coverage despite the Racing Bulls running alongside each other through one of Formula 1’s fastest sections.
“I don’t know many cars that have gone side-by-side through Eau Rouge and carried on down the whole straight like we did,” Lawson said.
“So yeah, it was good, honestly.”
The pair then went viral during the week after a social media post revealed they had flown to Budapest together with budget airline easyJet, with Lawson joking that Lindblad had been left with the middle seat.
“Arvid was sat in the middle, so I got the window, so it was alright,” he said.
Lindblad’s result extended his own points-scoring run to five races and moved Racing Bulls level with Alpine on 61 points in the fight for fifth in the constructors’ standings.
2026 F1 Hungarian Grand Prix – Schedule, how to watch, TV times & more
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