Who is Arvid Lindblad? The Red Bull junior tipped for future Formula 1 success

Arvid Lindblad has been making a name for himself in the junior categories of motorsport, and now finds himself as a Formula 1 driver for the 2026 season, with Racing Bulls.

He received a rare exemption to gain a headstart in Formula 1 earlier this year, too. Drivers normally have to be aged 18 or over to qualify for an FIA Super Licence, but the sport’s governing body granted a request from Red Bull to hand Lindblad a Super Licence in the months before his 18th birthday, making him eligible for the step up before that milestone.

Arvid Lindblad: The latest Red Bull junior on the rise in motorsport

This article was originally published in June 2025, and updated in December 2025.

British-Swedish driver Lindblad was born in August 2007, and started out his motorsport journey on two wheels when he was given a motocross bike at the age of three.

He first began karting aged five at Surrey’s Daytona Sandown Park circuit, and several years later began being mentored by former Renault and Williams development driver, Oliver Rowland.

Raising eyebrows towards the end of his karting career by claiming the WSK Super Master Series title in the OKJ class, he soon received the call from Red Bull to join their junior programme.

After he and his father spoke with Helmut Marko in Portimao, Lindblad was signed to the Red Bull Junior programme for the 2021 season.

Still racing in karts as recently as 2022, the teenager’s rise has been sharp since then.

More on Red Bull F1 juniors from years gone by

👉 All the mid-season driver swaps made in Red Bull’s history

👉 What happened next? The nine Red Bull drivers who didn’t land the top seat

Arvid Lindblad and his step up to car racing

Come mid-2022, Lindblad stepped up to formula racing by taking part in a host of Formula 4 series – going into 2023 taking part in the Italian, UAE and Euro series before taking part in the Formula 4 edition of the Macau Grand Prix.

Lindblad took pole position by half a second and dominated to take victory around the fearsome Guia Circuit, with Red Bull and Marko quickly placing him in FIA Formula 3 as a 16-year-old in 2024.

An impressive start to the season saw the teenager take victory at the first opportunity in the Bahrain sprint race, following that up with feature race victory in Barcelona and an impressive home double at Silverstone, taking wins in both the sprint and feature race.

He would finish fourth in the standings in his first season in the category, prompting a swift promotion to Formula 2 for the 2025 season.

Keeping his eye in over the European winter, Lindblad would begin 2025 taking part in the Formula Regional Oceania Championship, winning six races on his way to the title.

His step up to Formula 2 would be seamless, too, with consistent points finishes followed by sprint race victory in Saudi Arabia.

After a dominant feature race victory in Barcelona, the FIA was asked by Red Bull to grant Lindblad a Super Licence early, around eight weeks before his 18th birthday, which would have made him automatically eligible.

This request was granted by the governing body, which cited that he had “consistently demonstrated outstanding ability and maturity in single-seater formula car competition.”

This move, in theory, made Lindblad available to drive in Formula 1 for either of the Red Bull teams prior to the age where a Super Licence could be awarded.

Arvid Lindblad and Formula 1

As of 2025, Lindblad was listed as a test driver for Red Bull’s sister team, Racing Bulls, and the teenager took part in his maiden Formula 1 test at Imola in February 2025, driving the 2023 AlphaTauri AT04.

He has also driven for Red Bull during their Showrun programme, doing so in Houston in September 2024 and taking part in a ‘race’ against Leeds United footballers at Elland Road in 2025.

In July 2025, Red Bull made use of Lindblad’s Super Licence exemption to put him behind the wheel at his home race, the British Grand Prix, for his first official FP1 session in Formula 1.

Lindblad took the place of Yuki Tsunoda in the session, and in 22 laps of Silverstone placed 14th, going half a second slower than Max Verstappen in the sister car.

Later in the season, Lindblad was behind the wheel of the four-time World Champion’s RB21 chassis for FP1 in Mexico City. In 26 laps around the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, he managed to go a tenth quicker than full-time driver Tsunoda in the session, though Verstappen’s chassis had received upgrades that Tsunoda’s had not.

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies admitted he was impressed with the teenager’s outing after the session, and that his main requirement had been to stay on the road, given Verstappen had only one set of upgraded parts – and a crash would hinder his chances that weekend.

Mekies told PlanetF1.com and other media in Mexico City: “I think he did a great job. It’s so difficult to step up in FP1, it’s very different to test days.

“You don’t have many tyres, you don’t have many laps, and he did just very, very good jobs. You have seen all the timesheets by yourself, but he was very calm, gave all the right feedback, didn’t put a foot wrong, didn’t break the car. So honestly, he has impressed us in that FP1, no question about that.”

Following the team’s announcement of his step up to Racing Bulls next season, he will have the chance to impress on a full-time basis alongside Liam Lawson.

Read next: F1 2026 to begin in Australia, beloved circuit axed as 24-race calendar announced