The first 2026 pre-season test in Bahrain is nearly at its halfway point when Arvid Lindblad cheerfully greets me in the Racing Bulls hospitality ahead of our allotted interview time, the rookie sitting out the morning track session while team mate Liam Lawson is on driving duty.<\/p>\n
Lindblad<\/a> is happy to chat before he returns to the car for the afternoon segment \u2013 but it\u2019s clear that getting back behind the wheel is never far from his mind, as the Briton suggests we take a table where a nearby screen can keep us up to date with the action on the circuit.<\/p>\n Testing marks the latest step in Lindblad\u2019s preparations for his debut season in Formula 1 \u2013 and while the youngster is evidently looking ahead to this upcoming milestone, the focus of our interview is to cast an eye back on the journey that led him to this point, preparing to become the fourth-youngest F1 racer in history<\/a>.<\/p>\n To help with this trip down memory lane, I have arrived at our interview armed with pictures charting some particularly significant stages from Lindblad\u2019s past \u2013 leading him to humbly ask, \u201cPhotos of me?\u201d when we inform him of the plan. And with that, we press rewind and head right back to the beginning of the newest Formula 1 driver\u2019s career\u2026<\/p>\n \u2018I knew it was what I wanted to do\u2019<\/p>\n In the approach to January\u2019s Barcelona Shakedown (more on which later), Lindblad fittingly posted his own montage of photographs on social media spanning his path to the top echelon \u2013 and so we start with the very first snapshot from that post, showing the now teenager sat in a toy car as a small child.<\/p>\n As he looks at this image, Lindblad reflects on where that interest in motorsport was formed at such a young age, explaining: \u201cIt came from my paternal side of the family. My grandad\u2019s an avid motorsport fan \u2013 he\u2019ll watch anything with wheels and an engine, and he passed that passion down to my dad.<\/p>\n \u201cMy dad did a little bit of motocross for about a year or so, and unfortunately had to stop after not very long, but that sort of passion was passed down to him and that passed on to me.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was three, my dad got me a motocross bike for the first time \u2013 it was a bit too much for my mum, so it didn\u2019t last very long. When I was five I went karting for the first time, and that\u2019s kind of how it all started.\u201d<\/p>\n Lindblad goes on to recall a clear memory of what would perhaps prove to be a crucial moment in his future career, one that planted the seed of a dream when he was still only a few years old.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember very well when I was about four, before I\u2019d started karting, I saw my dad sitting on the sofa watching some TV and the F1 was on,\u201d he recollects. \u201cI came and sat down next to him, and I was seeing the cars and I was sort of wondering.<\/p>\n \u201cI asked him, \u2018Is it possible for me to get there? How does it work? Could I race there one day?\u2019, and it was really from that moment that I knew that it was what I wanted to do, so I\u2019ve sort of really pushed the racing my whole career, my whole journey.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really come from me \u2013 it was always my passion and something I wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n While the drive evidently came from him, Lindblad credits his father, Stefan, for being \u201creally there\u201d for him as he pursued karting, adding: \u201cHe was with me every step of the journey and he\u2019d come to almost all the races, and it was something we really did together.\u201d<\/p>\n The youngster admits that his early desire to enter motorsport was \u201ca little bit more difficult\u201d for his mum, Anita: \u201cEducation was important to her and sometimes the idea of missing a bit of school or the academic [side] not being the first priority was not the easiest for her to accept, but we worked on it and we got the balance right.<\/p>\n \u201cLooking back on it, I think it was also good that she pushed back \u2013 I remember very well, there were times where I was doing my homework at the racetrack, all that kind of stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n Climbing the ranks with help from a racing driver<\/p>\n Next, we look back at another picture from Lindblad\u2019s social media archives. \u201cI remember this photo very well,\u201d he declares about this shot, which shows the smiling Briton as a child seated in the cockpit of an F2 racing car, set to be driven by Oliver Rowland \u2013 who poses alongside \u2013 on the 2017 British Grand Prix weekend.<\/p>\n It might look like a typical snapshot of a young racing fan meeting one of their idols, but for Lindblad the photograph represents another key factor in his journey so far, with Rowland having acted as a coach in the years since.<\/p>\n \u201cI met Ollie in around 2015, when I was seven,\u201d Lindblad explains. \u201cThe team that I was racing for had a link with something called RSF [Racing Steps Foundation], which was in Britain and helping drivers.<\/p>\n \u201cMy dad was always very focused on driver coaches and wanting to help me improve, so he would ask the team if it\u2019s possible if any of those drivers had a weekend off and they wanted a bit of extra pocket money, just to come and help me out for a day with a bit of coaching and stuff.<\/p>\n \u201cOllie was always really up for it, and that was how the relationship started. Every six months or so from when I was seven, we\u2019d do a test day, then when I was nine we started a karting team together where I won the British Championship.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve stayed in contact very closely throughout, when I started racing in Europe and we were talking all the time, and then in F3 and F2 he was coming a lot to the races. It was a big part thanks to him that I\u2019ve been able to make the steps and progress and be on the trajectory I\u2019ve been on, because he\u2019s helped to give me advice from his experience.<\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t that long ago that he was in F2 and he\u2019s obviously racing now in Formula E, and to have that advice and knowledge of someone who\u2019s recently done it really, really helped.\u201d<\/p>\n The insight of others who have been there before is something that Lindblad has clearly found beneficial \u2013 and, when asked if any other drivers throughout his journey have been particularly supportive, the 18-year-old singles out Red Bull stablemate Max Verstappen<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI got to know Max a few years ago, and he\u2019s always been very kind and very willing to offer advice whenever I\u2019ve had any questions,\u201d says Lindblad. \u201cAnd it wasn\u2019t just a short answer \u2013 he really tried to help, and I think that\u2019s cool to see, especially from someone who\u2019s achieved so much in the sport.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s very easy when you do so well and you\u2019re in the limelight, sometimes you can forget or change a little bit, but the fact that he\u2019s still so down to earth, still so kind and wanting to help, is very cool to see, and I think it\u2019s really impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n Learning through karting and the Red Bull Junior Team<\/p>\n The third photo on our trip down memory lane is another that Lindblad can clearly recall. Looking back at his karting years, the image shows him winning on debut at the opening round of the WSK Euro Series in 2021, the joy at his victory visible through his visor.<\/p>\n And as the branding of his helmet hints at, this moment came just a few months after another pivotal milestone when Lindblad was signed to the Red Bull Junior Team.<\/p>\n The importance of both is evident, as Lindblad explains: \u201cTalking about my karting journey, it was massive. For every racing driver, it really is where we learn our craft. I spent much more time in karting than I have in cars \u2013 I only went to cars when I was 15, so I did almost 10 years of karting and three to four years of cars.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s where you really learn everything about driving, race craft, feeling the limit. For sure, driving a car is a bit different, but all those fundamentals are massive.<\/p>\n \u201cOn Red Bull, I joined the programme at the end of 2020, and I was still quite in the middle of my karting journey. I\u2019m massively grateful to them for the support and the opportunity they gave me to join the programme and also to be here in Formula 1.<\/p>\n \u201cLike Ollie, I wouldn\u2019t have been able to make the steps and be on this trajectory without them. I really learned a lot through the ranks with them, and they\u2019ve helped me become the driver I am today.\u201d<\/p>\n The \u2018very difficult step\u2019 to F3<\/p>\n Claiming victory on debut would go on to become something of a theme for Lindblad, as our next snapshot proves. After making the step to single-seaters in 2022 through Italian F4, the driver from Surrey in England progressed to Formula 3 in 2024 \u2013 where he won his very first race for Prema Racing, triumphing in the Sakhir Sprint Race.<\/p>\n Lindblad has spoken previously of having had a rapid rise through the ranks<\/a>, generally spending just a year in each series before moving up to the next category \u2013 so did that move to F3 feel like a particularly big step, or was it something he viewed as another rung in the ladder?<\/p>\n \u201cNo, it was a big step,\u201d the youngster concedes. \u201cThe way the single-seater ladder is at the moment, there are some categories that are bigger steps than others, and F4 to F3 was a massive step.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a very difficult step to make, especially with only one year of F4, and to be able to do well. I knew coming into the year it was going to be extremely difficult, and there were a lot of nerves on my side about how things would go, because I knew it was important but I also knew the weight to the challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was my second year in cars and I was competing against guys who are in their fourth or fifth year. I was 16 \u2013 the average [age on the] grid was 19 or 20. So I knew it was going to be very difficult, and to win here in Bahrain on my first race was a really nice relief on that side, but again, it was also a big part thanks to Red Bull<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI did a lot of work with Prema but also with Red Bull over the winter to prepare for that year, and a big part thanks to Rocky [Guillaume \u2018Rocky\u2019 Rocquelin, Head of the Red Bull Driver Academy] as well. He was quite a big role in the team, and he really helped me to learn and be able to develop to make that step.\u201d<\/p>\n After scoring a total of four wins during that Formula 3 campaign, Lindblad\u2019s next step quickly followed as he progressed to F2 in 2025 with Campos Racing, where he became the youngest race winner in the category\u2019s history. But alongside the three victories he would claim in that season, the year also brought with it another key moment on his route to F1\u2026<\/p>\n A \u2018very special moment\u2019 with home FP1 debut at Silverstone<\/p>\n The next photo I present to Lindblad is a short trip back to last summer, where \u2013 alongside his Formula 2 duties \u2013 the Briton made his F1 weekend debut by participating in Free Practice 1 for the first time, doing so on home turf at Silverstone with the Red Bull team.<\/p>\n As he looks at the image \u2013 showing him driving down the pit lane at the wheel of the RB21, ahead of Verstappen \u2013 it is clear how much it meant to Lindblad as I ask him about the emotions of the day, and the significance of getting the opportunity in the United Kingdom where so much of his early racing career took place.<\/p>\n \u201cI was very nervous before getting in the car, but it was also good nerves,\u201d he smiles. \u201cIt was a very special moment for me to be able to compete in my first official F1 session, to be doing it with Red Bull as well who have helped me so much in my career, and even more so to be doing it at home at Silverstone.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a day I\u2019ll never forget. I went to race in Europe after I won the British Championship, so 2024 was the first time in about six years I\u2019d raced in the UK, and having that moment again, doing my first FP1 in the UK where I learned so much, was very special.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be honest, a big part of why I\u2019ve been able to get to Formula 1 is because I\u2019m British. The level in the lower categories is extremely high, for sure the weather not always being the greatest helps, and there\u2019s no mystery [about] why there are five British drivers on the grid in F1. I think it was cool to have that first moment again in the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n Remembering the \u2018little me that dreamed of this moment\u2019 in F1<\/p>\n Finally, our journey brings us up to the present day, with the last image in our timeline showing a beaming Lindblad in the Racing Bulls<\/a> garage, preparing to get behind the wheel during the recent Barcelona Shakedown.<\/p>\n The rookie momentarily appears lost in thought as he takes the time to look at the photo, which marked what he previously referred to as his \u201cfirst proper go\u201d<\/a> in the car ahead of his F1 debut.<\/p>\n When asked if he took a moment to digest it all at the time \u2013 or whether his focus was purely on getting used to his new challenger \u2013 Lindblad answers: \u201cA bit of both. Obviously I was very focused on the job at hand, which was getting good data for the team to understand the car and that side of it.<\/p>\n \u201cBut at the same time, obviously it was also very cool for me to be having my first proper F1 experience as an official F1 driver now. So yes, I was very focused on the job at hand but in the back of my mind I was still very excited for the moment.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a small part of me that remembers when I was five and I started this journey, the little me that dreamed of having this moment \u2013 that was cool, and for sure there\u2019ll be even more of that in the weeks to come in Melbourne.\u201d<\/p>\n As our trip down memory lane wraps up, I\u2019m curious to know if any of these milestones felt particularly crucial to Lindblad in his trajectory to this point.<\/p>\n \u201cFor sure there are parts of the journey that helped, but the good days and the bad days have all shaped what\u2019s happened today and I wouldn\u2019t really change anything if I could,\u201d he reflects. \u201cIf I was to say anything, I\u2019d say just generally that F3 year was very special for me.<\/p>\n \u201cAs I touched on already, I knew it was going to be incredibly difficult and I was quite nervous coming in, and the fact that it went so well, and I also think [it was] quite a pivotal moment in my career, as well as obviously joining the Red Bull programme.\u201d<\/p>\n In the days after our talk, further key moments would occur for Lindblad as Racing Bulls worked through their run plan at pre-season testing, with the teenager setting the highest daily lap count of any driver<\/a> on the final day with a tally of 165 tours of the Bahrain International Circuit.<\/p>\n