Racing Bulls sits fifth at the halfway mark, and team principal Alan Permane credits an "awful" moment from two years ago for the turnaround. At Barcelona in 2024, the squad brought a major upgrade package — new rear wing, sidepods, engine covers, reprofiled floor — that failed spectacularly. Both drivers were eliminated in Q1, finished outside the points, and the team slid from sixth to eighth by season's end.
The collapse forced Racing Bulls to diagnose what went wrong and how to prevent it. Now every upgrade hits its windtunnel targets. "We bring an update and it works. Bring the next one it works," Permane says. Liam Lawson calls it the strongest development he's seen in five years there.
Racing Bulls is still chasing the big four, but while other midfield teams "flounder around" — Permane's words — bringing parts that don't deliver, Racing Bulls keeps banking gains. Hold that correlation and fifth becomes a floor, not a ceiling.
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