Rising Red Bull star pinpoints Verstappen inspiration: 'He's gone into detail'

Arvid Lindblad has hailed Max Verstappen for taking the time to educate him as he makes his way up the motorsport ladder to a possible F1 seat in the future.

Lindblad is another highly rated product of Red Bull's junior programme, winning races in every single-seater category in which he has competed over the past three years.

After finishing fourth in last year's F3 championship, albeit after a disastrous final three rounds in which he failed to score a point, the 17-year-old British-Swedish driver has been promoted to F2 for this year, joining Campos Racing.

Lindblad is seen as a future Red Bull Racing driver. Whether he will one day be a team-mate to Verstappen remains to be seen, but he is grateful to the four-time F1 champion for his input so far in helping him progress.

"He's always very impressive on the racetrack, and to deal with him, he's always been really good to me," said Lindblad, speaking to RacingNews365.

"He's obviously very busy, but he still takes the time. We speak, not that much, a bit, whenever I've been in the hospitality.

"I've sent him the odd message just to have some advice, and he's always replied very quickly, or been very friendly. It's not like he's sent a very short, brief answer. He's gone into quite a lot of detail and really tried to help me.

"So, yeah, he's been very friendly. For someone of his calibre, a four-time world champion, all the things he has in his mind, things he has to deal with, to take the time, to be open, honest and quite friendly to someone like me, who's coming up through the ranks, is very inspiring.

"Obviously, in the future, I want to be in Formula 1. I want to be a world champion, and seeing those characteristics and behaviours from him is something I aspire to have, hopefully in the future."

Lindblad appreciates there is a limit on the advice he can receive from Verstappen, particularly as he is still far removed from F1, despite taking a step closer for this season.

Nevertheless, he is enormously grateful for what he has been able to glean so far.

"I'm not close enough yet on the Formula 1 side to be in all the real detail to know," said Lindblad.

"I've sat in a few of the debriefs and been able to hear how he how he goes about those.

"It's been quite clear, and helpful to me, about how I can also improve myself and the way that I communicate with the team."

Naturally, Lindblad can only admire what Verstappen has achieved in his career, even if the Dutchman has had to be patient as it was not until 2021 he won his first title, over four years after winning a grand prix on debut with Red Bull.

"Obviously, Max is extremely impressive," assessed Lindblad. "I don't think anyone can deny that what he's achieved in Formula 1 is very impressive.

"In the last few years, watching him drive and the way he's dominated is pretty special."