FORMULA 1 ABU DHABI GP LEWIS HAMILTON RUMOURS

Red Bull driver Lindblad gets little time to rest ahead of his F1 debut

19:00, 19 Dec

byTim Kraaij

Arvid Lindblad is getting little time to rest from Red Bull ahead of his first Formula 1 campaign in 2026. The young Brit says he has a lot of work to do before the start of the new season.

On the Tuesday between the Qatar and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix, it was officially confirmed that Lindblad will become a full-time Racing Bulls driver for the 2026 season. The Brit followed up that news in style in Abu Dhabi by winning the Formula 2 Sprint Race at the Yas Marina Circuit.

After that victory, Lindblad said: “Yes, it's been good. I mean, obviously it was very nice that the news came out on Tuesday. Obviously very excited for next year. And yes, the result's been good today, but obviously it's still a Saturday, so we're looking forward to tomorrow because that's where the real points are.”

The news that Lindblad would replace Isack Hadjar at Racing Bulls had been known for some time. Although the official confirmation only came after the Qatar GP, it was an open secret that the youngster would make his debut and that Hadjar would be promoted to Red Bull Racing at the expense of Yuki Tsunoda.

Lindblad received the good news from Red Bull late

“Yeah, it was done in Qatar, that's when I found out,” Lindblad answered GPblog when he was told the news. On the second part of the question—when he first got an indication that he would be racing in Formula 1 in 2026—he added:

“There was no clear point when I knew it was possible. I've been on the Red Bull program now for quite a few years. I've come through the ranks with them and yes, I've been working very close with them. So I knew that there was a lot of trust in me.”

"So I was just focused on the performance this year in F2 and I knew that if I did a good job, opportunities would come, even it was presented through the FP1s and that sort of thing. So I wouldn't really say there was like a turning point where there was an indication that something was possible. I was just focused on performing and I knew that if I did that something would happen."

Arvid Lindblad heard the good news from Helmut Marko - Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

It was the now former top advisor Helmut Marko who broke the news to the talent. "Obviously I was absolutely over the moon when I found out. Yeah, it's been my goal since when I started this journey when I was five. So, yeah, obviously something I was super happy to hear about."

With a ninth-place in Sunday’s feature race, Lindblad completed his first and only F2 season finishing in sixth place in the standings. However, there’s no time for a long break after the season. By his own account, Lindblad has a lot of work to do before the season kicks off in Barcelona at the end of January with the first pre-season test.

"It will be a busy winter. I mean next year is going to be very different in F1 with the regulation changes, and it starts very soon. I mean we already have our first test at the end of January. So yes, it's going to be a busy few weeks now. I'm not really going to get a break and there's going to be a lot of working with the team to get up to speed on my side and to learn as much as I can.

“Because I think, anyway when you go from F2 to F1 it's a massive step and I think next year it's going to be even more so, because there's going to be even more things to manage from within the car. And yeah, it'll be a lot of work to be done,” the Brit concluded.

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