From Sandown Park to a Racing Bulls drive – Who is Arvid Lindblad?

There will be a new name on the F1 grid in 2026, with Racing Bulls confirming that Arvid Lindblad will make the step up from Formula 2 to partner Liam Lawson at the team.

The 18-year-old has made plenty of waves in junior formula racing over the last couple of years, earning rave reviews from many fans and pundits. But most importantly, Lindblad has impressed members of the Red Bull hierarchy, including Laurent Mekies and Helmut Marko.

After several Testing of Previous Car (TPC) runs this year – as well as two FP1 appearances for Red Bull at Silverstone and Mexico City – Lindblad has now been given his chance to race in the top echelon. Here is everything you need to know about the young British talent…

Motorsport family and karting

Born to a Swedish father, an Indian mother, and into a motorsport-loving family, Lindblad grew up in Surrey, England, but he started on two wheels rather than four. Lindblad’s father had been a motocross rider and at three-years-old, bought his son a bike.

But with his mother wanting him to have a good life balance, ruling that school was a non-negotiable and Lindblad preferring four-wheel racing, they switched to karting at five with his first karting venture at Surrey’s Daytona Sandown Park circuit.

He won several competitions both in the UK and in Europe, including the 2018 British Karting Championship, which he claimed driving for Oliver Rowland Motorsport. The current Formula E driver and Lindblad met when he was seven and, since then, the former Renault and Williams Development Driver has served as a mentor.

Lindblad’s most successful year in karting came in 2021, when he joined the likes of Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli in winning the WSK Euro Series, before coming out on top of the WSK Final Cup. This was in his first year as part of the Red Bull Junior programme, having signed to them at the 2020 Portuguese Grand Prix, aged just 13.

Switch to single-seaters

The Briton’s first full single-seater season started with the 2023 Italian F4 Championship where, helped by his six victories, he finished third in the standings.

Lindblad also finished fourth in the Euro 4 Championship and fifth in Formula 4 UAE, and later that year, he won the F4 race around the famous streets of Macau.

In 2024, Lindblad stepped up to Formula 3 with PREMA Racing, becoming the youngest winner in the championship’s history at 16-years-old when he won the Bahrain Sprint Race on his debut. He finished the year with four victories, which included a historic double at Silverstone – where he became the first driver ever to win every race on a single F3 weekend.

Lindblad went into the final round at Monza as the only rookie in with a chance of claiming the title, before eventually finishing fourth in the standings.

Currently, Lindblad is in the midst of his debut Formula 2 season with Campos Racing, and so far, the Red Bull talent has shone. Until his retirement at Round 7’s Sprint Race in Austria, the rookie had finished every race in the top 10.

He has also won two races – the Jeddah Sprint and the Barcelona Feature – and is currently sixth in the standings with 79 points, trailing leader Richard Verschoor by 35 points with half the season remaining.

How good is Lindblad?

Lindblad’s speed is clear, but his work ethic and ability to adapt has been eye-catching. Jumping up from F4 to F3 is not easy, but his adaptability impressed many, especially PREMA Team Principal Rene Rosin, who said after Silverstone last year he had not expected it.

That trend has continued in F2, and current Team Principal Adrián Campos Jr explained in Austria why he thinks this is the case.

“Arvid is a very strong driver,” said Campos Jr. “When you speak with him you don’t notice he is 17-years-old. That’s his strongest point, he is really mature. It’s like speaking with an old guy who has a 17-year-old body.”

That maturity was also been acknowledged by the FIA World Motor Sport Council, who granted Lindblad a Super license before his 18th birthday – as they did for Mercedes' Antonelli last year. As the FIA International Sporting Code states: “At the sole discretion of the FIA, a driver judged to have recently and consistently demonstrated outstanding ability and maturity in single-seater formula car competition may be granted a Super Licence at the age of 17-years-old.”

From there, Lindblad went on to participate in Free Practice 1 sessions for Red Bull, recording 22 laps in his first outing at Silverstone before logging further mileage in Mexico City, where he also ranked an impressive P6 on the timesheets.

This has all marked what has been a rapid rise for Lindblad, as in two years he has gone from F4 to the pinnacle of the sport – and now his ascent continues, as he prepares for his full-time F1 debut with Racing Bulls.