No team orders at Racing Bulls as team chases best-ever F1 constructors' championship finish

Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad will be allowed to continue fighting each other as often as possible as Racing Bulls looks to secure a top five championship finish for the first time, says team principal Alan Permane.

The two Red Bull juniors have battled closely in each of the past two races in Belgium and Hungary at a time when upgrades have helped Racing Bulls move ahead of Alpine in the standings. As part of the wider pool of Red Bull drivers, Lawson and Lindblad are trying to prove themselves worthy of a promotion to Red Bull Racing in future, but Permane is keen to not overly control the two.

“There was a couple of moments [in Hungary] where it was a little bit tense, but I have to put my trust in them,” Permane said. “We talk about it, of course, before the race and I say to them, ‘Listen, you can race. Do not touch each other.’ That's my one thing, do not touch each other.

“It's a nice problem to have … Honestly, when they go on track, they're driver A and driver B to me. I tell them that. I don't care which order they come in. Constructors’ [championship] is everything for us.”

The Racing Bulls team has never finished in the top five in the constructors’ championship under its previous guises of AlphaTauri and Toro Rosso, but Permane says this year’s development rate is giving it one of its best chances of doing so.

“It's been amazing," he said. "Of course, it's an effort from every single person that works in this fantastic team. Everyone in Faenza, everyone in Milton Keynes, and what's made the difference is everything we've put on the car is working. We're bringing decent sized upgrades and we hit the track and they work. Drivers are delivering… Just everywhere, everything’s firing well.”

For rookie Lindblad, the summer break has come off the back of six straight point-scoring finishes, but the 19-year-old wants more after finishing behind Lawson on five of those occasions.

“Obviously, it's a nice stat, and I think overall it has been a very strong first half of the year,” Lindblad said. "I think I've had a lot of good moments where I've shown what I can do. There's no doubt in my mind about my good moments. Obviously, I've shown good things, but I'm very aware there's things I can do better.”