Arvid Lindblad: Meet the Racing Bulls driver who instructed Lando Norris in 2021 he can be in F1 in 5 years

“Lando I would like you to recollect me, I’ll see you in 5 years.”

These have been the phrases of a then 14-year-old British karting star Arvid Lindblad to Lando Norris in 2021 because the pair shook palms within the paddock at Adria Karting Raceway in Italy.

Norris was there to launch his personal karting group and a cheeky Lindblad, who will step up from System 2 to System 1 with Racing Bulls at the beginning of 2026, determined to ship him a message.

“It was really just like a spur of the moment. I was talking with my mate at the track, and we saw Lando,” Lindblad, who’s now 18 years outdated, instructed Sky Sports activities.

“I stated to my mate, ‘I will be racing with him quickly in F1’ and my good friend was like, ‘you do not have the heart to inform him’ and I needed to show him unsuitable!

“So I went straight as much as Lando and he was very type about it. I stated, ‘it was good to satisfy you and see in 5 years’. I received impressed by Lewis Hamilton telling Ron Dennis [he would join McLaren] and it was an identical type of vibe, so it was simply my good friend egging me on!

“That was at the end of 2021, so hopefully I have a good year in F2 and hopefully I will be in F1 and stick to my word!”

Watching Hamilton as a child

Lindblad’s reference to Hamilton goes again to 1995 when a 10-year-old Hamilton instructed then McLaren group principal Dennis on the Autosport Awards that he needed to race one in every of his F1 automobiles someday.

Hamilton was notching up title after title at Mercedes when Lindblad, who first stepped right into a go-kart on the age of 5, grew up watching F1.

“I remember moments when I was four or five, when Seb [Vettel] was winning, but not really much,” he stated.

“As you can imagine when Lewis started winning, I was seven or eight, and that was really when I started to understand the sport a bit better.

“I got here into it at a time when he was profitable and he was British, he was additionally a person of color and I believed there was some form of cool hyperlink as nicely as a result of his rookie season in F1 was 2007 and I used to be born in 2007. I all the time simply felt some affiliation in direction of him.”

Lindblad, born in Surrey, has a Swedish father and a mom of Indian heritage. He has all the time raced underneath the British flag and had clear expertise from a younger age.

Reigning System E champion Oliver Rowland took Lindblad underneath his wing and describes {the teenager} as “special”.

“I first met Arvid back in 2016. I had a call from my old go-kart team, Zip Kart, who were really important in my career,” defined Rowland.

“They said, ‘look we have got this young kid, he’s got the potential, seems good’. He was seven at the time. They asked if I would be interested in a bit of coaching, I said, ‘let me come and have a look at him’ because I was quite busy at the time.

“I went right down to Whilton Mill, the karting venue, on his first day, noticed him go round as a seven-year-old and he was fairly spectacular.

“What impressed me most was his maturity level for someone of that age. He was so inquisitive on my racing, how to go faster, clearly all he lived and breathed was the thought of being a racing driver, which was quite strange at such a young age.”

A meteoric karting rise

Rowland began a karting group, Oliver Rowland Motorsport, only for Lindblad because the latter and his household weren’t proud of their karting set-up on the time.

Lindblad received the British Championship and shortly began competing at world karting degree, combating for titles in opposition to drivers older than him.

“From the beginning, it was always about trying to be in Formula 1 and wanting to be a world champion,” he stated.

“When I was seven or eight, I was always the young guy because I actually wasn’t old enough to race. I was racing in an eight-to-13 category and there were moments where I was really fast, when I was as fast as the good guys.

“I kind of got a bit of confidence there and then when I was nine or 10, I was fighting for the British Championship, then won the British Championship.

“Then I went to Europe, and I used to be fairly good. I do not suppose there’s ever a definite second the place I used to be like, ‘perhaps I am adequate’. I simply type of cracked on.

“Everything I did, I wanted to win, and it was always about trying to be better, how I can improve. I think that was a big part of it. When I was racing, my dad said it was much more important to focus on me and my development, so I have a lot of driver coaches and all that kind of stuff to really focus on me. It’s always about, how can I be better?

“Then I simply took it in my stride and centered on each step of the ladder and attempting to do nearly as good as doable.”

Changing into a Crimson Bull junior

As is changing into more and more widespread, those that shine in karting make the soar to System 4 as quickly as doable after they flip 15 years outdated – the minimal age to race these automobiles.

Lindblad did this and already had the backing of Crimson Bull, who he signed for as a 13-year-old on the finish of 2020.

“I don’t know all the ins and outs of what happened, because I was 13 at the time. I was focused on the results and the performance because, that’s the most important thing in any sport,” he stated.

“I just remember very well there was some communication between my dad and some guys in the team that had a link with Red Bull, but I don’t know the ins and outs.

“I simply bear in mind very nicely that I used to be with my dad within the lodge in Portimao. We have been testing for the [karting] World Championship. We have been simply there having breakfast one morning, and my dad’s cellphone was on the desk and it rang.

“There was a number, and under it said ‘Graz, Austria’. I didn’t really think much of it. I was kind of like: ‘Who could that be?’ Because I didn’t really know there were discussions at the time.

“I bear in mind, I knew one thing was up as a result of I noticed him decide up the cellphone and stroll off with a little bit of a skip in his step.

“He came back and he said Dr Marko wanted to meet us to discuss me joining the program, which obviously I was over the moon about.

“Then we ended up assembly him on the Sunday morning of the 2020 Portuguese Grand Prix, the place he requested me to hitch the programme and that is the way it began.”

Climbing up the single-seater ranks

Lindblad finished third in his full maiden Italian F4 season in 2023, surpassing expectations of himself and those who were keeping a close eye on his career.

He won the Macau F4 World Cup race at the end of that year, then stepped up to F3 in 2024. While he did not win the championship, Lindblad’s outright speed and ability to adapt to quicker machinery raised eyebrows.

At Silverstone, he won both races, which included an incredible performance in mixed conditions where he was towards the rear of the field at one point.

His championship problem fell away although as he scored no extra factors within the last six race weekends, partly as a result of misfortune.

However, Lindblad impressed many individuals and earned a name as much as F2, the place he has endured a combined season with flashes of nice pace however errors too.

He received the Dash in Saudi Arabia then transformed pole place into victory in Spain however was by no means actually within the title hunt. Nonetheless, Crimson Bull have been impressed sufficient to present him a chance to make the step as much as F1.

How Lindblad earned an excellent licence and impressed in F1 follow

Lindblad has a Tremendous Licence, which allows him to drive in F1, after he received the System Regional Oceania Championship at the beginning of 2025.

Crimson Bull clearly see Lindblad as a possible future star and have a historical past of fast-tracking drivers to F1, with this the most recent instance of how they cope with younger drivers.

He accomplished two non-public Assessments at Imola earlier this 12 months in a 2023 AlphaTauri, then made his free follow debut with Crimson Bull on the British Grand Prix in July and the Mexico Metropolis Grand Prix in October, impressing Crimson Bull in each situations.

His sixth place in Mexico was notable as he was sooner than Yuki Tsunoda with the identical tools and quickest of the 9 rookies who drove within the session.

“He was told, ‘don’t do anything wrong, don’t crash the car’,” stated Crimson Bull advisor Helmut Marko.

“But he still delivered and was the fastest rookie and I have to say his technical feedback was also impressive, so we are very happy with him.”

Crimson Bull group principal Laurent Mekies added: “I think he did a great job. It’s so difficult to step up in FP1. It’s very different to test days. You don’t have many tyres, you don’t have many laps.

“He did simply an excellent job. You’ve seen it on the timesheets by your self. He was very calm. He gave all the best suggestions. He did not put the foot unsuitable. He did not break the automotive. Truthfully, he has impressed us on that FP1, no query about that.”

So can Lindblad grow to be an F1 champion?

It is rather early to be asking this query however Lindblad’s mentor, Rowland, was optimistic when talking earlier this 12 months that Britain have one other massive motorsport expertise within the making.

“I rate Arvid on the real highest of levels. He has everything that’s needed, and more, to have the potential to become F1 world champion,” he stated.

“It’s still a long journey from now until that point, so there’s a lot for him to learn, a lot for him to develop. Formula 1 is also not just about the driver in some cases, but I absolutely believe that, where he is right now, at this moment in time, he will be a future world champion.”

The 2025 System 1 season concludes with the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix reside on Sky Sports activities F1 from Friday. Stream Sky Sports activities with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime