“Lando I would like you to recollect me, I’ll see you in 5 years.”
These have been the phrases of a 14-year-old British karting star Arvid Lindblad to Lando Norris in 2021 because the pair shook arms within the paddock at Adria Karting Raceway in Italy.
Norris was there to launch his personal karting group and a cheeky Lindblad, who will probably be competing in System 2 this 12 months, 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 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 center to inform him’ and I needed to show him fallacious!
“So I went straight as much as Lando and he was very form about it. I stated, ‘it was good to fulfill 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 sooner or later.
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 type of cool hyperlink as effectively 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 in F2 pre-season testing (Credit score: Crimson Bull Content material Pool)
Lindblad, born in Surrey, has a Swedish father and a mom of Indian heritage. He has all the time raced below the British flag and had clear expertise from a younger age.
Present System E championship chief Oliver Rowland took Lindblad below 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.”
Lindblad shone in karting (Credit score: Crimson Bull Content material Pool)
A meteoric karting rise
Rowland began a karting group, Oliver Rowland Motorsport, only for Lindblad because the latter and his household weren’t pleased with their karting set-up on the time.
Lindblad received the British Championship and shortly began competing at world karting degree, preventing for titles towards 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.
Lindblad drove at Crimson Bull Showrun Houston in Houston in September 2024 (Credit score: Crimson Bull Content material Pool)
“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, ‘possibly 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 making an attempt to do pretty much as good as potential.”
Changing into a Crimson Bull junior
As is changing into more and more frequent, those that shine in karting make the leap to System 4 as quickly as potential after they flip 15 years previous – 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 keep in mind very effectively that I used to be with my dad within the resort 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 keep in mind, I knew one thing was up as a result of I noticed him choose 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 affix 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.
Lindblad confirmed off his expertise in a moist Silverstone weekend in F3 final 12 months (Credit score: Crimson Bull Content material Pool)
His championship problem fell away although as he scored no extra factors within the remaining six race weekends, partly as a consequence of misfortune. Nonetheless, Lindblad impressed many individuals and earned a name as much as F2, the place he will probably be competing with Campos this season.
“I’m happy with the steps I’m making. It will be a really challenging year. It’s a big step from F3, so I need to use every opportunity I get in the car to learn and improve,” he stated.
“I’m just going to focus on myself the first couple rounds, keep learning and developing like I have from the tests. I want to be challenging for wins and podiums and poles, that’s the goal, so I’m just trying to get up to speed as quickly as I can. Hopefully that comes sooner rather than later.”
When might Lindblad be driving in F1?
Lindblad already has a Tremendous Licence, which permits him to drive in F1, after he received the System Regional Oceania Championship earlier this 12 months over the winter.
Crimson Bull seem to see Lindblad as a possible future star and have a historical past of fast-tracking drivers to F1. There may be uncertainty about Yuki Tsunoda’s future at Racing Bulls and his new team-mate Isack Hadjar might want to carry out to maintain his seat for 2026.
Even on the primary Crimson Bull group, though Verstappen has a contract till the tip of 2028, there proceed to be rumbles about the place he will probably be within the coming years, and Liam Lawson is the most recent driver who has the hardest team-mate problem on the grid.
Please use Chrome browser for a extra accessible video participant
Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson sit up for the upcoming System 1 season – their first as Crimson Bull team-mates
It is clear to see that alternatives might rapidly open up for Lindblad, for as early as subsequent 12 months, if he performs in System 2.
“He [Verstappen] has already said in the media he doesn’t want to drive for that long. He’s at a level where he will decide when he wants to stop. Nobody will be taking a seat from him in that sense,” stated Lindblad on the prospect of racing with Verstappen sooner or later.
“I’m focused on myself and focused on my journey. I want to have a good year in F2 and hopefully I’ll be in Formula 1 in 2026, then we’ll see what happens.
“It is a bizarre dynamic. You’re employed for a very long time to attempt to get there, after which it is a very completely different factor when you’re there, so I am not even eager about that.
Please use Chrome browser for a extra accessible video participant
Lawson has an enormous problem as Verstappen’s team-mate for the 2025 System 1 season
“I’m still very far away from F1. There’s a lot of things I have to prove and achieve and improve in myself, so we’ll see what happens.
“If I am team-mates with him sooner or later that will be superb but when I am not, that is effective. It is not one thing I fear about. I wish to be a world champion in System 1.”
New regulations for 2025 mean young drivers will compete in first practice at least four times per team, double the number from previous years.
Red Bull will likely use Lindblad in some of these sessions, but will have to wait until the British driver turns 18 in late August as Super Licence rules prohibit drivers under the age of 18 to compete, unless they ask the FIA for an exemption.
Lindblad drove at Crimson Bull Showrun Houston in Houston in September 2024 (Credit score: Crimson Bull Content material Pool)
So can Lindblad turn into an F1 champion?
It is extremely early to be asking this query however Lindblad’s mentor, Rowland, is optimistic that Britain have one other huge motorsport expertise within the making.
“I rate Arvid on the real highest of levels. One or two [of the six rookies in F1 this year] will be competitive and on the pace straight away. I would fully expect the same from Arvid if he gets the call up,” he stated.
“He has everything that’s needed at 17 years old, and more, to have the potential to become F1 world champion.
“It is nonetheless an extended journey from now till that time, so there’s lots for him to study, lots for him to develop. System 1 can be not simply in regards to the driver in some circumstances, however I completely imagine that, the place he’s proper now, at this second in time, he will probably be a future world champion.”
Please use Chrome browser for a extra accessible video participant
Sky Sports activities F1’s Martin Brundle and Naomi Schiff present perception into the ten driver pairings from this season’s F1 line-up
Sky Sports activities F1’s dwell Australian GP schedule
Thursday March 13
- 2.30am: Drivers’ Press Convention
- 5am: The F1 Present: Lights Out 2025*
- 9.45pm: F3 Follow
- 10.55pm: F2 Follow
Friday March 14
- 1am: Australian GP Follow One (session begins at 1.30am)*
- 2.55am: F3 Qualifying*
- 3.40am: Staff Principals’ Press Convention
- 4.45am: Australian GP Follow Two (session begins at 5am)*
- 6.25am: F2 Qualifying*
- 7.15am: The F1 Present*
Saturday March 15
- 12.10am: F3 Dash*
- 1.10am: Australian GP Follow Three (session begins at 1.30am)*
- 3.10am: F2 Dash*
- 4.15am: Australian GP Qualifying build-up*
- 5am: AUSTRALIAN GP QUALIFYING*
- 7am: Ted’s Qualifying Pocket book*
7.30am: Australian GP Qualifying Replay* (9am on Sky Showcase) - 9.55pm: F3 Function Race*
Sunday March 16
- 12.25am: F2 Function Race*
- 2.30am: Australian GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
- 4am: THE AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX*
- 6am: Australian GP response: Chequered Flag*
- 7am: Ted’s Pocket book*
- 7.55am: Australian GP race replay
- 10am: Australian GP highlights (additionally on Sky Showcase)
- 7pm: Villeneuve Pironi – Racing’s Untold Tragedy
*Additionally on Sky Sports activities Major Occasion
Watch all 24 race weekends from the 2025 System 1 season dwell on Sky Sports activities F1, beginning with the Australian GP this weekend. Stream Sky Sports activities with NOW – No contract, cancel anytime
