Liam Lawson admits surprise at Alpine's performance jump in Miami

Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson acknowledged that Alpine's significant performance step over the Formula 1 spring break caught his team out at the Miami Grand Prix. While Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto qualified strongly inside the top ten, Lawson could only manage P12, partly due to a late brake issue in qualifying.

Why it matters:

In a tightly packed midfield where development pace is critical, a single upgrade package can reshuffle the competitive order. Alpine's apparent leap forward in Miami highlights the ongoing development race among the chasing pack and puts pressure on teams like Racing Bulls to respond quickly to avoid falling behind in the constructors' championship.

The details:

• Lawson confirmed a braking problem emerged specifically during qualifying, hampering his final session after trouble-free practice runs.
• Despite the issue, he believes the team maximized the car's potential, but the gap to the improved Alpine was simply too large to bridge this weekend.
• Alpine's updated A526 showed clear gains, with both cars qualifying well and Gasly securing the final point in the Sprint race, pulling the team slightly clear of its direct midfield rivals in Florida.
• When asked if Alpine's form was a surprise, Lawson agreed, noting the rival team was a few tenths per lap faster—a substantial margin in the midfield.

What's next:

Lawson expects this pattern of fluctuating form to continue throughout the season as teams bring upgrades at different races. He pointed out that Racing Bulls and other teams will be analyzing the interesting developments seen on rival cars in Miami, aiming to learn and apply those lessons to their own development programs to stay in the fight.