Arvid Lindblad no stranger to 'deep end' after extraordinary rise

Racing Bulls F1 rookie Arvid Lindblad has insisted he is no stranger to being in the "deep end" ahead of his maiden campaign.

Lindblad is the only rookie on the 2026 grid, with Red Bull being huge admirers of the British driver.

The 18-year-old’s rise up the motorsport ladder has been nothing short of extraordinary, having only moved into single-seaters in 2022.

In his junior career, Lindblad never spent more than one season in each category, progressing from Formula 4 to Italian F4, then to Formula 3, Formula 2 and now Formula 1 in consecutive years.

Managed by reigning Formula E world champion Oliver Rowland, Lindblad has demonstrated an ability to adapt to new categories quickly.

Having never spent more than a season in a single-seater category, he is ready to start from scratch again in F1, although he admits he has no idea what to expect.

"I've come through the ranks pretty quickly," Lindblad told the official F1 website.

"I've just been in each category one year, so every year I'm used to being thrown in the deep end. For sure on that side it will help [adapt to F1] because I'm used to being in this situation.

"But on the other hand, I haven't done Formula 1 yet so I don't know what's coming. We need to see and I need to be open minded and work hard because this step will be the biggest one I've dealt with so far."

Lindblad's F2 mentality for F1 promotion

Lindblad was signed as a Red Bull junior driver in 2021 when he was just 13 years old, with the Austrian organisation placing immense belief in the youngster.

In preparation for F1, Red Bull fielded Lindblad in various TPC tests (Testing of Previous Cars) and first practice sessions, both for the Milton Keynes-based outfit and Racing Bulls.

Despite the intense programme, Lindblad’s primary focus was on his maiden F2 campaign, aware that his best hope of an F1 promotion was to perform well in the junior series.

"I always just thought that if I was just focused on the performance in F2, that was the thing that would give me the best opportunity [to step up to F1]," explained Lindblad.

"So that was always what I was focused on. I believed that if I did everything right and if I performed well, potentially there would be an opportunity.

"So all these things – with the Super Licence and the FP1s – were a bit of a confidence booster that I was doing the right things, that things were going well."