Arvid Lindblad details Spanish GP crash after impressive early pace
Arvid Lindblad was fourth fastest in FP2 for the Spanish GP despite crashing out.
Arvid Lindblad left Racing Bulls facing a late-night repair job after a heavy impact cut short an otherwise impressive Friday practice session at the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid.
Lindblad suggested new circuits act as the ultimate leveler after setting the fourth-fastest time during Friday practice, despite a late crash cutting his session short.
Arvid Lindblad issues apology after Spanish GP practice crash
The British rookie ended Friday’s second practice session an impressive fourth-fastest, however, his session ended early when he made heavy contact with the barriers at Turn 13.
Reflecting on the impact, Lindblad was quick to play down the physical impact of the incident while issuing an apology to his team.
“I feel fine, honestly. It looked quite bad, but actually the impact was not very hard,” Lindblad said. “Charles [Leclerc] did it in much more spectacular fashion in Monza!
“There’s a good amount of damage, quite a lot, but nothing that’s not repairable. I just apologise to the engineers, but especially the mechanics because they’ve got a bit of extra work tonight.”
On a brand-new track, Lindblad added that his inexperience is somewhat offset by the lack of historical data for his rivals, creating a more equal playing field.
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“For me, it’s not really that abnormal to be learning a new track,” Lindblad explained. “I’ve been driving them on the F1 game for a long time as a kid.
“I’d say it’s a bit of a leveller. Guys that have been in the sport for a long time have driven tracks like China or Canada 10, 11, or 15 times. Whereas here, this is new for everyone.
“It’s definitely a confidence booster today that on a track that is a leveller and new for everyone, we were P4 on merit. Every lap we did in FP2, we were fast.”
With overtaking expected to be difficult, placing an emphasis on qualifying pace and track position, Lindblad is looking forward to Saturday’s all-important qualifying hour.
“We know that qualifying is the most important thing on this track, so we’re in a good place,” he said.
“I’m just going to focus on resetting tonight, trying to block out what happened, and take the good learnings into tomorrow.”
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