Inspired by Hamilton: Lindblad ready to race his idol in debut F1 season

13:03, 21 Jan

byKada Sarkozi

Arvid Lindblad is looking forward to racing against his idol Lewis Hamilton in the 2026 season.

"It’s super cool. I mean, you still want to beat your idols. So, I mean, I don’t think I’ll race with him any differently."

- Arvid Lindblad

Currently, there are two British world champions on the Formula 1 grid. Speaking to TalkSport, Lindblad explained that he is looking forward to racing Hamilton more than Lando Norris, as the Ferrari driver is one of his idols.

The Racing Bulls rookie was born the year the seven-time world champion made his Formula 1 debut back in 2007. A year later, Hamilton won his first title at Interlagos.

He said: "Lewis was a massive part of my early interest in the sport. I felt a great connection towards him because he was the only one of colour.

Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

"It’s a really cool idea in the sense that when I fell in love with the sport, Lewis was doing well, and starting to win his world championships in Mercedes, and now I’m going to be sharing the track with him.

“Obviously, on that side, it’s super cool. I mean, you still want to beat your idols. So, I mean, I don’t think I’ll race with him any differently. But for sure, it’s cool to be able to share the track with him.”

Lindblad replaces Isack Hadjar at the Faenza-based team, who was promoted to Red Bull for the 2026 campaign. Like the 18-year-old, the Frenchman also idolised Hamilton while growing up.

Lindblad spins off on demo day with Racing Bulls

During his first run in the VCARB03, Lindblad spun off the track at Imola in damp conditions. Both the car and the driver were ok after the incident at the Variante Villeneuve section.

Check out the latest episode of GPblog's F1 Paddock Update here!

Want to stay up-to-date with what happens in the F1 paddock? Then GPblog's F1 Paddock Update video is the perfect way to do it. Subscribe to GPblog's YouTube channel and turn on notifications to never miss the latest episodes.