when he drove the ex-Shane van Gisbergen Chevrolet Camaro<\/a> owned by circuit proprietor Tony Quinn.<\/p>\nThat came while competing in the Formula Regional Oceania Championship, which he won that season.<\/p>\n
Any move into Supercars remains a long-term prospect, with Lindblad currently in the midst of an impressive rookie F1 season.<\/p>\n
The 18-year-old has scored points in seven grands prix and reached Q3 on seven occasions through the opening 11 rounds of the 2026 season.<\/p>\n
He has also remained close to teammate Liam Lawson, who leads their combined grand prix and sprint qualifying head-to-head 8-7.<\/p>\n
Lindblad sits 20 points behind Lawson in the drivers\u2019 championship, while the New Zealander holds an 11-4 advantage in their combined grand prix and sprint race head-to-head.<\/p>\n
His performances have strengthened his position within the Red Bull system after he entered the season as the only rookie on the grid.<\/p>\n
Lindblad admitted the significance of reaching F1 did not fully sink in until moments before the start of his debut in Melbourne.<\/p>\n
He said he was preparing to climb into his car when long-time mentor Oliver Rowland approached him on the grid following the national anthem.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d qualified ninth and was just about to put my helmet on when Oliver Rowland gave me a hug and said something very simple: \u2018All those years of hard work were for this moment,\u2019\u201d Lindblad explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething happened inside me that I\u2019d never experienced before. For one or two seconds, my whole life flashed before my eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw myself at seven years old. Then eight. I remembered dreaming about Formula 1. I remembered every difficult moment, every year I wondered whether I\u2019d ever make it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lindblad said the exchange briefly brought him to tears before he turned his attention to the race.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started crying,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen I stopped almost immediately because I had a race to do, but it was an emotion completely unlike anything I\u2019d ever felt before.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the moment I truly realised: \u2018I\u2019ve made it. I\u2019m a Formula 1 driver.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The British driver said he had never considered an alternative career while progressing through the junior categories because he remained convinced he would reach F1.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. Never. Because in my mind, plan A was always going to work,\u201d Lindblad said when asked whether he had a fallback option.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven when I was five or six years old, I simply couldn\u2019t picture a future where I wasn\u2019t a Formula 1 driver.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t even a possibility in my head. Maybe that\u2019s also why I never felt intimidated by expectations. A lot of people are frightened by such a huge ambition. I honestly never was.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lindblad said that outlook had helped him deal with the pressure associated with Red Bull\u2019s junior program and his promotion to F1.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never felt the pressure everyone talks about because, in my mind, it was always very straightforward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I wasn\u2019t fast enough, I\u2019d be disappointed in myself. That wouldn\u2019t be Red Bull\u2019s fault \u2013 it would simply mean I hadn\u2019t been good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that the demands of F1 had also been less intimidating than he had been warned to expect.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore I arrived, everyone kept telling me the pressure would be enormous,\u201d Lindblad said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure there will be a moment when I\u2019ll feel it too, but honestly, I haven\u2019t so far.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing here is what I\u2019ve wanted since I was five years old. I\u2019ve spent my whole life working towards this.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m grateful to everyone who helped me along the way, but at the end of the day, this is my dream. I\u2019m living it for myself.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo why should I feel pressure?\u201d<\/p>\n
F1 returns with the Dutch Grand Prix on August 21-23.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Arvid Lindblad of Racing Bulls prepares to drive Red Bull Ampol Racing’s Ford Mustang at the Goodwood Festival…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":843829,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[14212,64,63,817,813,816,9107,9910,85,40367],"class_list":["post-843828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-arvid-lindblad","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-racing-bulls","tag-slot2","tag-sports","tag-supercars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=843828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/843829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=843828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=843828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=843828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Arvid](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SI202607130154.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tArvid Lindblad of Racing Bulls prepares to drive Red Bull Ampol Racing’s Ford Mustang at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Image: Dom Gibbons\/Getty Images<\/p>\n