Permane Tells Racing Bulls Drivers to Study Verstappen’s Radio

Key Takeaways

Permane’s Message: Study Verstappen’s Radio

Alan Permane wants his Racing Bulls drivers to treat Max Verstappen’s in-car communication as a working reference, not just a highlight reel. Speaking at the Belgian Grand Prix, the team principal explained that Racing Bulls already studies Verstappen’s GPS traces alongside every other team on the grid, but he goes further with Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad by pointing them specifically toward how the four-time world champion talks to his engineers under pressure.

“At the moment, we use GPS, we listen to his radio,” Permane said. “One of the things I’m always saying to our guys is, ‘Listen to his communication. Listen to how calm he always is. Listen to how good his feedback is.'” For a team principal managing a driver pairing still building race craft, that calm delivery is treated as a technical asset in its own right — clear, accurate feedback from the cockpit shortens the loop between what a car is doing and what the pit wall can fix.

Permane was direct about why he singles out Max Verstappen specifically. “I think it’s a great example for young drivers, and that’s why I call him a benchmark, because of not only his pace, but how he carries himself in and out of the car is, from what I see, exemplary. That’s why I like to use him as a guide for the younger guys.”

The Experience Gap: Lawson and Lindblad by the Numbers

Lawson and Lindblad form the least experienced full-time pairing on the 2026 grid, with a combined 35 grand prix starts between them heading into the season. That figure puts real weight behind Permane’s decision to lean on an outside reference point rather than assume experience will fill the gaps on its own.

The next-least seasoned duo on the grid, Mercedes’ George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, share 176 grand prix starts between them — nearly five times as many races as the Racing Bulls pairing. Lawson, at 24 years old, is the senior partner in experience terms, while Lindblad, soon to turn 19, is still working through his first full campaign in Formula 1.

That disparity is exactly why Permane frames Verstappen’s radio habits as teaching material rather than trivia. A driver with four world championships has spent years compressing complex feedback into short, usable sentences for his engineers — a skill that takes most drivers considerably longer to develop on their own.

Lawson’s Own Chapter Alongside Verstappen

Liam Lawson had a firsthand seat alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull for a two-round stint in early 2025 before being moved back to the Faenza-based team, now competing as Racing Bulls. Asked at the Austrian Grand Prix whether he still picks up lessons from his former team-mate, Lawson gave a measured answer that matched the very trait Permane wants his drivers to absorb.

“We look at all the drivers,” Lawson said. “Obviously, this basic amount of data that’s shared between all the teams that we have access to. Now I’m not his team-mate, obviously I only had that for two races. But you pick up things, for sure, when you’re watching what everybody’s doing.”

Lawson’s response points to a wider habit inside the paddock: shared telemetry and GPS traces mean every team can study Verstappen’s driving lines and braking points, even without a garage connection to Red Bull. What Racing Bulls does differently, according to Permane, is pairing that data with the audio — treating radio delivery as part of the same performance package as lap time.

Why Composure Translates to the Cockpit

Composure under radio pressure matters because clear feedback from the driver directly shortens a team’s reaction time to a car problem or a changing track. Permane’s comment that Verstappen is “exemplary” both in and out of the car reflects a simple operational reality for engineers: a driver who reports a balance issue accurately on the first lap it appears saves a team from guessing through several laps of setup changes.

For Racing Bulls, whose lineup is still building race experience, that distinction carries extra weight. Lindblad, not yet 19, and Lawson, still early in his second stint with the team after his brief Red Bull promotion, are both absorbing new circuits, new tyre behavior and new pressure situations most seasons at once. A benchmark driver who communicates cleanly under those same pressures gives them something concrete to measure themselves against, race weekend to race weekend, rather than an abstract target.

It also reflects how Red Bull’s junior and sister-team structure works in practice. Despite shared ownership between Red Bull and Racing Bulls, Permane was clear that his team accesses the same publicly shared data available to every other squad on the grid — there is no exclusive pipeline, just a deliberate choice about which driver to study most closely.

What This Means for Racing Bulls Through the Rest of 2026

Racing Bulls is using Verstappen as a working template for driver development rather than a one-off comparison, and Permane’s comments suggest this approach will continue race by race as Lawson and Lindblad accumulate more starts. The gap in grand prix experience against rivals like Russell and Antonelli won’t close overnight, but the team’s stated method — GPS analysis paired with radio study — gives both drivers a repeatable habit to build on through the remainder of the season.

Moments like these, where a champion’s calm under radio pressure becomes the standard other drivers train against, are part of what makes a season’s helmet designs and liveries worth following closely for collectors tracking a driver’s career arc.

FAQ

Q: Why does Alan Permane want Racing Bulls drivers to study Max Verstappen’s radio?
Permane wants Lawson and Lindblad to learn how a four-time world champion delivers calm, accurate feedback under pressure, calling Verstappen’s communication style ‘exemplary’ and using it as a benchmark for driver development.

Q: How many grand prix starts do Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad have combined?
Lawson and Lindblad have a combined 35 grand prix starts entering the 2026 season, the fewest of any full-time pairing on the grid.

Q: How does that compare to Mercedes’ driver lineup?
George Russell and Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes share 176 grand prix starts between them, nearly five times more experience than the Racing Bulls pairing.

Q: Did Liam Lawson ever race alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull?
Yes, Lawson had a two-round stint as Verstappen’s team-mate at Red Bull in early 2025 before being moved back to the Faenza-based team now racing as Racing Bulls.

Q: Does Racing Bulls get special access to Verstappen’s data through Red Bull ownership?
No, Permane confirmed the team uses only the GPS and radio data shared among all teams on the grid, not any exclusive pipeline from Red Bull.

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