- F1
Lindblad has been promoted to an F1 seat at Red Bull’s sister team, Racing Bulls, for next season
Kieran JacksonFormula 1 CorrespondentTuesday 02 December 2025 16:08 GMTComments
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Arvid Lindblad will be Britain’s fifth F1 driver on the 2026 grid after the teenager was announced as a Racing Bulls driver for next season.
The 18-year-old from Surrey has impressed in Formula Two this year and became the competition’s youngest ever race winner, at 17 years and 243 days, in Saudi Arabia in April.
With news of Isack Hadjar being promoted to Red Bull to partner Max Verstappen next year, a spot opened up at Racing Bulls alongside the retained Liam Lawson.
And Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko has opted for teenager Lindblad over Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda, who is dropped, but will remain in the Red Bull family as a test and reserve driver.
But who is Lindblad, what are his results so far and what can we expect?
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Lindblad was born and raised in Virginia Water in Surrey, to a Swedish father and mother with Indian heritage, and started his karting career at the age of five at Daytona Sandown Park in Esher.
His success in karting included becoming the British Cadet Champion in 2019 and success in the WSK Super Master Series in 2020 and the WSK Euro Series in 2021. Prior to this, he was put in touch with Formula E driver (and 2025 champion) Oliver Rowland, who continues to act as his mentor to this day.
Such was Lindblad’s karting prowess, he joined the Red Bull junior team in 2021 at the age of 13, while attending the Royal Grammar School in Guildford.
Concluding his karting career in 2022 with a podium at the CIK-FIA World Cup KZ2, Lindblad graduated to the various Formula 4 single-seater championships in 2023. He finished fifth in the UAE Championship, third in the Italian Championship and fourth in the Euro 4 Championship.
open image in galleryLindblad won his first F3 race at 16 (Getty Images)The youngster also grabbed the attention of onlookers with victory at the prestigious Macau Grand Prix in 2023.
Lindblad then broke records as he progressed up the ladder: he became the youngest winner in Formula Three history with his sprint race victory in Bahrain in 2024 at the age of 16, winning four races over the course of the season and finishing fourth in the drivers’ championship.
In F2 this season, Lindblad competed for Campos Racing and his first victory came in the sprint race on the fearsome Jeddah street circuit. He also won the F2 feature race in Barcelona in June and was granted a special dispensation FIA super licence at the age of 17, in similar fashion to Mercedes teenager Kimi Antonelli. He is currently sixth in the F2 standings with one round remaining in Abu Dhabi.
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open image in galleryLindblad speaks to Max Verstappen's race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase (left) (Getty Images)The Briton completed his first F1 test at Imola in February and took part in his first F1 session by taking the place of Verstappen in first practice at the Mexican GP in October, raising eyebrows with the sixth-fastest lap of the session.
“It was amazing,” an elated Lindblad said afterwards. “I am extremely grateful to everyone at Red Bull for the opportunity. Amazing to get my first official F1 session.
“I think I did decent, I felt comfortable in the car and I think the speed was okay. I think I could definitely go a bit quicker with a few more laps but, considering it was my first time in a car that I’ve only done very limited running in F1, I mean for example this weekend I think it is 13, 14 seconds quicker than F2, so the step is enormous.
“So, all that considered, with the limited prep I’m happy with the job today.”
The teen will become the fifth British driver on the grid in 2026, with Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris, George Russell and Ollie Bearman already assured of their spots.
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