How Arvid Lindblad is making his mark in Formula 1

By Ella Keene

Arvid Lindblad rose to Formula 1 at a flying pace and only two races into the season, he’s backing up exactly how he landed his seat and proving he belongs in F1.

Australia was a promising start for the rookie driver. Despite a near miss with Russell in Q3, Lindblad was able to qualify ninth, setting him up for a promising race. It was on the first lap of the grand prix that we were really able to see the Brit’s driving skills when he managed to move up to fifth going into turn one. 

Even though this was his first race, the young driver was giving world champions, like Max Verstappen, a difficult fight to overtake him. All eyes were on Lindblad again when he battled Ollie Bearman, despite the Haas driver claiming that battle, Lindblad was determined not to give up.

With an eighth-place finish in his first race, all eyes were on him again for the Chinese GP.

Lindblad had multiple opportunities to prove himself in Shanghai, with his first sprint weekend approaching he was pushing hard in practice which led for him to spin out after only six laps – limiting his time to get to know the track.

This showed when the Brit only managed to qualify 15th in both the sprint and feature race. Compared to his performance in Australia, this was definitely a step down.

The race start saw him move up the grid and with safety cars coming out on only lap 10, Lindblad sat comfortably in sixth for the race restart. However, it wasn’t long before he learnt the limits of the car again, spinning out at turn 14 – knocking him back in the standings, leaving him to eventually finish in 12th place.

The rookie showed so much promise in his first race, fighting with champions and scoring point on his debut shows his talent as a driver and the room for his talent to grow. Even though China didn’t prove to be the best weekend of racing for Lindblad, he learnt the limits to his car which every driver must do.

With Japan only a few days away, it’s vital that he puts in the laps during practise so he can display his full talents without pushing the car beyond its limits. As we’re only two races in and he’s already scored points, Lindblad has so much room to grow this season, hopefully we can see him working his way through the ranks in Formula 1.