Arvid Lindblad: Red Bull’s Next Rising Star

You might have seen the headlines, but you’re probably still asking the key questions: who is he, why is he suddenly in the spotlight, and what convinced the FIA to hand him a Super Licence before he’s even turned 18?

He’s about to make his first appearance in a Formula 1 session this weekend. Free Practice 1 at Silverstone, in front of a home crowd. And Red Bull are already treating him like more than just a promising junior. Is he being lined up as the next Verstappen-style fast-tracked prodigy?

Arvid was also on standby as a reserve driver for the Austrian Grand Prix, in case Max Verstappen was hit with a one-race ban. Verstappen was on eleven penalty points. Had he received another during free practice or qualifying, he would have had to miss the race, but the Dutchman got through the Austrian Grand Prix unscathed. Two of his penalty points were dropped on 30th June, taking him down to nine and removing the risk of a ban.

So this weekend in Silverstone is the first time that F1 fans will get the chance to see Lindblad in action. He took part in testing in Imola recently, and despite a couple of mistakes, impressed the Red Bull hierarchy enough to earn his place for this weekend, thanks to new rules which give rookie drivers four Free Practice sessions instead of two. With Verstappen’s current teammate Yuki Tsunoda rumoured to be under pressure, this practice session could be Lindblad’s audition to replace him next season. Or perhaps replace even Verstappen himself, if the rumours about him and Mercedes prove to be true. Unlikely, but considering we thought the same thing about Hamilton and Ferrari, it would be risky to outright dismiss these whispers.

Lindblad is in his first season in F2, driving for Campos Racing, and his performances have impressed so far. He became the youngest winner in F2 history when he won the sprint race in Jeddah, and the second youngest polesitter in F2 history in Barcelona (a race he went on to win). He is currently sitting third in the standings with two race wins, eight points behind the Championship leader Alex Dunne, and won the Formula Regional Oceania Championship over the winter break. These extra track hours allowed him to apply for special dispensation to be awarded his Super Licence.

In purely racing terms, Lindblad would be the favourite of Red Bull’s three F2 drivers to make the step up to F1. Oliver Goethe has only managed one points-scoring finish this season, while Pepe Marti is a massive thirty points behind Lindblad. Red Bull aren’t afraid of fast-tracking young talented young drivers to their F1 teams, so this could be why they were so eager for Lindblad to get his Super Licence. Especially with Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson underperforming, and Red Bull potentially looking for a replacement for one, or both.

But throwing young drivers in at the deep end doesn’t always pay off, as Red Bull have found out this season (and several times before). Tsunoda has struggled to adapt to F1 racing, and despite having four seasons under his belt, he has never been on the podium, and his highest qualifying position is third. Since taking the second seat at Red Bull in April, his highest finish was ninth at the Bahrain GP, and he has consistently finished out of the points since then.

His predecessor, Liam Lawson, has arguably fared worse. He started the season as Red Bull’s second driver, but was demoted to Racing Bulls after the first two GPs of the season, a decision that he described as ‘a shock’, to Sky Sports. ‘It’s not something that I saw coming,’ he added.

His results certainly didn’t help his case. In Australia, he qualified 18th and crashed out of the race, and in China, he qualified last for both the sprint and Grand Prix, finishing both races in 14th and 12th.

It raises questions about Red Bull’s strategy, and whether they can shake off the image of a team that chews young drivers up and spits them out, instead of giving them the time and support to succeed. Will Lindblad be the next sacrificial lamb? It’s clear that he has the talent, but does he have the nous to succeed where others have failed?

To answer that question, we need to take a closer look at Lindblad himself.

So, who is Arvid Lindblad?

Born in Surrey to a Swedish father and Indian mother, he grew up idolising Lewis Hamilton, and started karting at the age of seven for Zip Kart. His talent was obvious, so Zip Kart asked one of their former drivers, Oliver Rowland, to coach him. Rowland, the current Formula E Championship leader, was seriously impressed with the young Lindblad. Not just because of his skills, but his mentality.

‘What impressed me most was his maturity level for someone of that age,’ Rowland told Sky Sports. ‘He was so inquisitive on my racing, how to go faster, all he lived and breathed was the thought of being a racing driver.’

In fact, Rowland had so much faith in Lindblad that he founded his own karting team, Oliver Rowland Motorsport, specifically to support him. Stepping in when Lindblad and his family grew disillusioned with his previous team.

Lindblad had a rapid rise in the karting world. He won the British Championship and started competing in world karting events against drivers older than him. In 2020 he won the WSK Super Master Series, at the age of just 13. It was no surprise when Red Bull signed him at the end of that year.

He made his debut in F4 in 2022, and in 2023 moved to PREMA Racing, where he finished the season third overall, and won the Macau F4 World Cup. The following year, he moved up to F3, and made F3 history by becoming the first driver to win both races of a two-race weekend at Silverstone.

He was the highest scoring rookie and finished the season fourth in the standings. He had been sitting in second for a lot of the season, but a combination of bad luck in races, (including a puncture during the sprint race in Austria, and a couple of unfortunate collisions in later races) meant that he dropped down the leaderboard.

Despite this, his performances helped to ensure that PREMA won the team championship for the third season running, and his star has continued to rise during his maiden year in F2. His ability to adapt quickly at each level has caught the eye, and the management team at Red Bull have certainly noticed.

He doesn’t lack belief in himself, either.

In 2021, the then 14 year old Lindblad approached Lando Norris at the Adria Karting Raceway in Italy and said: ‘Lando, I want you to remember me, I will see you in five years.’

That kind of bravado could stand Lindblad in good stead in the pressure cooker world of F1, and particularly at Red Bull, who are not afraid to demote a driver if they don’t perform. Lindblad repeated his intention to be an F1 driver by 2026 in an interview for Sky Sports in April. He said: ‘I’m focused on myself and focused on my journey. I want to have a good year in F2, and hopefully I’ll be in F1 in 2026.

‘If I’m teammates with him [Verstappen] one day that would be amazing, but if not, that’s fine. It’s not something I worry about. I want to be a world champion in Formula One.’

If he doesn’t get his chance with Red Bull, an opportunity could open up with Racing Bulls. Lawson is being consistently outperformed by his Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar, and there is a possibility that he could be dropped for next season. Or, if the Red Bull management run out of patience with Tsunoda and promote Hadjar to replace him, there would be a space to fill alongside Lawson. If either of those things happen, Lindblad could be chosen as the replacement, and be competing alongside Norris next season, as he promised.

Will Lindblad’s prediction come true? Only time will tell.