Arvid Lindblad was left “speechless” after his “pretty nuts” Formula 1 debut where he scored points at the Australian Grand Prix while battling the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.
The Racing Bulls driver climbed one spot to finish eighth at Albert Park, but at one stage was even running in third following a brilliant getaway for the 18-year-old Briton at race start.
It was during the opening tours where he was going wheel-to-wheel with world champions such as Hamilton and Lando Norris, though the inferior pace of the VCARB 03 inevitably pushed him back down the order across the 58-lap contest.
“I’m pretty speechless to be honest, it was a pretty nuts race,” Lindblad told Sky Sports. “Coming into the weekend, points were not the expectation. I had hopes after yesterday, but I’m extremely happy, I’m extremely grateful to everyone from the team, from RBPT and Ford, for giving me the package to fight.
“But to be honest, I think saying points on debut doesn’t really summarise the race. Being P3 at one point on lap one was a lot more than I expected. I think I showed people a bit of what I’m here to do.”
Lindblad even attempted to defend position from Verstappen later on, and stern manoeuvres from the rookie certainly made the four-time world champion work hard for the eventual overtake.
Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls
Photo by: Anni Graf – Formula 1 via Getty Images
“That was pretty cool,” said Lindblad in his print media session. “Sharing the track, battling with Lewis, Max, Lando and all these guys. It’s very special. Yeah, I was having a lot of fun out there.”
Although a points reward is obviously pretty cool for Lindblad on his championship debut, the respect he’s earned for those aggressive wheel-to-wheel battles is perhaps the biggest takeaway.
“I’ve been working my whole life to get to Formula 1 and this weekend’s been a very special moment for me,” said Lindblad, who finished sixth in F2 last year.
“I have a lot of respect for the senior guys in the sport who’ve done an amazing job, but I’m not also going to roll over and give them the place. I’m here to fight.
“When I’m in the car, I’m a ruthless competitor, and I’m going to take every inch that I can get, and I think I showed that on lap one.”
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