Arvid Lindblad issues ‘I’m ruthless’ warning to F1 rivals

Arvid Lindblad has issued a warning to his fellow competitors that he is "ruthless", following a strong F1 debut in the Australian Grand Prix.

Lindblad started ninth but found himself in third momentarily on the opening lap before being overtaken by several drivers and falling to eighth by the end of the race.

The Briton battled hard against some of the biggest names in F1 to score points at Melbourne's Albert Park, giving an indication of what to expect from him this season.

His competitive debut surpassed Lindblad's expectations, with him believing he has shown the world what he is made of.

"I'm pretty speechless, to be honest," Lindblad told Sky F1. "It was a pretty nuts race. Coming into the weekend, points were not the expectation. I had hopes after yesterday, but yeah, I'm extremely happy.

"I'm extremely grateful to everyone from the team, from RBPT and Ford, for giving me the package to fight. But to be honest, I think saying points on debut doesn't really summarise the race.

"You know, being P3 at one point on lap one was a lot more than I expected. I think I showed people a bit of what I'm here to do."

Lindblad ready to scrap

One of the drivers Lindblad battled hard with was Max Verstappen, with the Racing Bulls youngster under no instruction to let the Dutchman overtake easily.

It was a similar story on the opening lap with Verstappen's Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar, who complained about Lindblad's aggressiveness over the radio.

Asked what it was like fighting Verstappen, Lindblad replied: "Yeah, I mean, in the end, I've been working my whole life to get to Formula 1, and this weekend has been a very special moment for me.

"And I have a lot of respect for the senior guys in the sport who've done an amazing job. But I'm not going to roll over and give them the place. I'm here to fight.

"When I'm in the car, I'm a ruthless competitor, and I'm going to take every inch I can get. And I think I've shown that on lap one."