Arvid Lindblad has defended his practice crash at F1’s recent Spanish Grand Prix, insisting that as a rookie, he is “allowed to make” such mistakes.
The Racing Bulls driver crashed at Turn 13 during second practice at Madrid, having set the fourth-fastest time in the session, before going onto qualify in 10th place – his 10th Q3 appearance in 14 races.
In the race, Lindblad finished in ninth for his ninth points finish of his rookie season, and his eighth in the last nine races, since a DNS in Canada.
His best result has been sixth in Monaco in a strong season for Racing Bulls, as the Briton defended his right to make mistakes such as the FP2 shunt in Madrid, which impacted the right-hand side of the car.
“I lost a lot of confidence, which is so important on a street track, missed basically all of FP3, and wasn’t happy in qualifying, but I managed to put a lap together and put it in Q3,” Lindblad told media, including RacingNews365.
“I definitely think that if I hadn’t had the crash, the trajectory to qualifying would have been very different, and I would have been a lot happier.
“It is something to learn from, and in the end, I am not going to beat myself up for crashing because it is something that is inevitable.
“I’ve been so on the limit this year, I’ve been so fast, and it was my 10th Q3 [appearance] of the season.
“I am allowed to make mistakes, and I am going to learn from it.”
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Lindblad’s bouncing back
As he impresses in his rookie season, Lindblad also pointed to the fact that he felt he had shown he was able to overcome adversity when it struck.
“I think it is good, and that I’ve shown again, and I’ve shown all year, that when things get difficult, I can still bounce back,” he continued.
“[It was] in Japan, there was an issue in Budapest and the same [in Madrid], this time it was a bit more of my own fault, but I am happy with how we bounced back. It wasn’t easy.”