EXCLUSIVE: ‘The little me dreamed of this’ – Lindblad reflects on the milestone moments of his journey to F1 in pictures

The first 2026 pre-season test in Bahrain is nearly at its halfway point when Arvid Lindblad cheerfully greets me in the Racing Bulls hospitality ahead of our allotted interview time, the rookie sitting out the morning track session while team mate Liam Lawson is on driving duty.

Lindblad is happy to chat before he returns to the car for the afternoon segment – but it’s clear that getting back behind the wheel is never far from his mind, as the Briton suggests we take a table where a nearby screen can keep us up to date with the action on the circuit.

Testing marks the latest step in Lindblad’s preparations for his debut season in Formula 1 – and while the youngster is evidently looking ahead to this upcoming milestone, the focus of our interview is to cast an eye back on the journey that led him to this point, preparing to become the fourth-youngest F1 racer in history.

To help with this trip down memory lane, I have arrived at our interview armed with pictures charting some particularly significant stages from Lindblad’s past – leading him to humbly ask, “Photos of me?” when we inform him of the plan. And with that, we press rewind and head right back to the beginning of the newest Formula 1 driver’s career…

‘I knew it was what I wanted to do’

In the approach to January’s Barcelona Shakedown (more on which later), Lindblad fittingly posted his own montage of photographs on social media spanning his path to the top echelon – and so we start with the very first snapshot from that post, showing the now teenager sat in a toy car as a small child.

As he looks at this image, Lindblad reflects on where that interest in motorsport was formed at such a young age, explaining: “It came from my paternal side of the family. My grandad’s an avid motorsport fan – he’ll watch anything with wheels and an engine, and he passed that passion down to my dad.

“My dad did a little bit of motocross for about a year or so, and unfortunately had to stop after not very long, but that sort of passion was passed down to him and that passed on to me.

“When I was three, my dad got me a motocross bike for the first time – it was a bit too much for my mum, so it didn’t last very long. When I was five I went karting for the first time, and that’s kind of how it all started.”

Lindblad goes on to recall a clear memory of what would perhaps prove to be a crucial moment in his future career, one that planted the seed of a dream when he was still only a few years old.

“I remember very well when I was about four, before I’d started karting, I saw my dad sitting on the sofa watching some TV and the F1 was on,” he recollects. “I came and sat down next to him, and I was seeing the cars and I was sort of wondering.

“I asked him, ‘Is it possible for me to get there? How does it work? Could I race there one day?’, and it was really from that moment that I knew that it was what I wanted to do, so I’ve sort of really pushed the racing my whole career, my whole journey.

“It’s really come from me – it was always my passion and something I wanted to do.”

While the drive evidently came from him, Lindblad credits his father, Stefan, for being “really there” for him as he pursued karting, adding: “He was with me every step of the journey and he’d come to almost all the races, and it was something we really did together.”

The youngster admits that his early desire to enter motorsport was “a little bit more difficult” for his mum, Anita: “Education was important to her and sometimes the idea of missing a bit of school or the academic [side] not being the first priority was not the easiest for her to accept, but we worked on it and we got the balance right.

“Looking back on it, I think it was also good that she pushed back – I remember very well, there were times where I was doing my homework at the racetrack, all that kind of stuff.”

Climbing the ranks with help from a racing driver

Next, we look back at another picture from Lindblad’s social media archives. “I remember this photo very well,” he declares about this shot, which shows the smiling Briton as a child seated in the cockpit of an F2 racing car, set to be driven by Oliver Rowland – who poses alongside – on the 2017 British Grand Prix weekend.

It might look like a typical snapshot of a young racing fan meeting one of their idols, but for Lindblad the photograph represents another key factor in his journey so far, with Rowland having acted as a coach in the years since.

“I met Ollie in around 2015, when I was seven,” Lindblad explains. “The team that I was racing for had a link with something called RSF [Racing Steps Foundation], which was in Britain and helping drivers.

“My dad was always very focused on driver coaches and wanting to help me improve, so he would ask the team if it’s possible if any of those drivers had a weekend off and they wanted a bit of extra pocket money, just to come and help me out for a day with a bit of coaching and stuff.

“Ollie was always really up for it, and that was how the relationship started. Every six months or so from when I was seven, we’d do a test day, then when I was nine we started a karting team together where I won the British Championship.

“We’ve stayed in contact very closely throughout, when I started racing in Europe and we were talking all the time, and then in F3 and F2 he was coming a lot to the races. It was a big part thanks to him that I’ve been able to make the steps and progress and be on the trajectory I’ve been on, because he’s helped to give me advice from his experience.

“It wasn’t that long ago that he was in F2 and he’s obviously racing now in Formula E, and to have that advice and knowledge of someone who’s recently done it really, really helped.”

The insight of others who have been there before is something that Lindblad has clearly found beneficial – and, when asked if any other drivers throughout his journey have been particularly supportive, the 18-year-old singles out Red Bull stablemate Max Verstappen.

“I got to know Max a few years ago, and he’s always been very kind and very willing to offer advice whenever I’ve had any questions,” says Lindblad. “And it wasn’t just a short answer – he really tried to help, and I think that’s cool to see, especially from someone who’s achieved so much in the sport.

“I think it’s very easy when you do so well and you’re in the limelight, sometimes you can forget or change a little bit, but the fact that he’s still so down to earth, still so kind and wanting to help, is very cool to see, and I think it’s really impressive.”

Learning through karting and the Red Bull Junior Team

The third photo on our trip down memory lane is another that Lindblad can clearly recall. Looking back at his karting years, the image shows him winning on debut at the opening round of the WSK Euro Series in 2021, the joy at his victory visible through his visor.

And as the branding of his helmet hints at, this moment came just a few months after another pivotal milestone when Lindblad was signed to the Red Bull Junior Team.

The importance of both is evident, as Lindblad explains: “Talking about my karting journey, it was massive. For every racing driver, it really is where we learn our craft. I spent much more time in karting than I have in cars – I only went to cars when I was 15, so I did almost 10 years of karting and three to four years of cars.

“It’s where you really learn everything about driving, race craft, feeling the limit. For sure, driving a car is a bit different, but all those fundamentals are massive.

“On Red Bull, I joined the programme at the end of 2020, and I was still quite in the middle of my karting journey. I’m massively grateful to them for the support and the opportunity they gave me to join the programme and also to be here in Formula 1.

“Like Ollie, I wouldn’t have been able to make the steps and be on this trajectory without them. I really learned a lot through the ranks with them, and they’ve helped me become the driver I am today.”

The ‘very difficult step’ to F3

Claiming victory on debut would go on to become something of a theme for Lindblad, as our next snapshot proves. After making the step to single-seaters in 2022 through Italian F4, the driver from Surrey in England progressed to Formula 3 in 2024 – where he won his very first race for Prema Racing, triumphing in the Sakhir Sprint Race.

Lindblad has spoken previously of having had a rapid rise through the ranks, generally spending just a year in each series before moving up to the next category – so did that move to F3 feel like a particularly big step, or was it something he viewed as another rung in the ladder?

“No, it was a big step,” the youngster concedes. “The way the single-seater ladder is at the moment, there are some categories that are bigger steps than others, and F4 to F3 was a massive step.

“It’s a very difficult step to make, especially with only one year of F4, and to be able to do well. I knew coming into the year it was going to be extremely difficult, and there were a lot of nerves on my side about how things would go, because I knew it was important but I also knew the weight to the challenge.

“It was my second year in cars and I was competing against guys who are in their fourth or fifth year. I was 16 – the average [age on the] grid was 19 or 20. So I knew it was going to be very difficult, and to win here in Bahrain on my first race was a really nice relief on that side, but again, it was also a big part thanks to Red Bull.

“I did a lot of work with Prema but also with Red Bull over the winter to prepare for that year, and a big part thanks to Rocky [Guillaume ‘Rocky’ Rocquelin, Head of the Red Bull Driver Academy] as well. He was quite a big role in the team, and he really helped me to learn and be able to develop to make that step.”

After scoring a total of four wins during that Formula 3 campaign, Lindblad’s next step quickly followed as he progressed to F2 in 2025 with Campos Racing, where he became the youngest race winner in the category’s history. But alongside the three victories he would claim in that season, the year also brought with it another key moment on his route to F1…

A ‘very special moment’ with home FP1 debut at Silverstone

The next photo I present to Lindblad is a short trip back to last summer, where – alongside his Formula 2 duties – the Briton made his F1 weekend debut by participating in Free Practice 1 for the first time, doing so on home turf at Silverstone with the Red Bull team.

As he looks at the image – showing him driving down the pit lane at the wheel of the RB21, ahead of Verstappen – it is clear how much it meant to Lindblad as I ask him about the emotions of the day, and the significance of getting the opportunity in the United Kingdom where so much of his early racing career took place.

“I was very nervous before getting in the car, but it was also good nerves,” he smiles. “It was a very special moment for me to be able to compete in my first official F1 session, to be doing it with Red Bull as well who have helped me so much in my career, and even more so to be doing it at home at Silverstone.

“It’s a day I’ll never forget. I went to race in Europe after I won the British Championship, so 2024 was the first time in about six years I’d raced in the UK, and having that moment again, doing my first FP1 in the UK where I learned so much, was very special.

“To be honest, a big part of why I’ve been able to get to Formula 1 is because I’m British. The level in the lower categories is extremely high, for sure the weather not always being the greatest helps, and there’s no mystery [about] why there are five British drivers on the grid in F1. I think it was cool to have that first moment again in the UK.”

Remembering the ‘little me that dreamed of this moment’ in F1

Finally, our journey brings us up to the present day, with the last image in our timeline showing a beaming Lindblad in the Racing Bulls garage, preparing to get behind the wheel during the recent Barcelona Shakedown.

The rookie momentarily appears lost in thought as he takes the time to look at the photo, which marked what he previously referred to as his “first proper go” in the car ahead of his F1 debut.

When asked if he took a moment to digest it all at the time – or whether his focus was purely on getting used to his new challenger – Lindblad answers: “A bit of both. Obviously I was very focused on the job at hand, which was getting good data for the team to understand the car and that side of it.

“But at the same time, obviously it was also very cool for me to be having my first proper F1 experience as an official F1 driver now. So yes, I was very focused on the job at hand but in the back of my mind I was still very excited for the moment.

“There was a small part of me that remembers when I was five and I started this journey, the little me that dreamed of having this moment – that was cool, and for sure there’ll be even more of that in the weeks to come in Melbourne.”

As our trip down memory lane wraps up, I’m curious to know if any of these milestones felt particularly crucial to Lindblad in his trajectory to this point.

“For sure there are parts of the journey that helped, but the good days and the bad days have all shaped what’s happened today and I wouldn’t really change anything if I could,” he reflects. “If I was to say anything, I’d say just generally that F3 year was very special for me.

“As I touched on already, I knew it was going to be incredibly difficult and I was quite nervous coming in, and the fact that it went so well, and I also think [it was] quite a pivotal moment in my career, as well as obviously joining the Red Bull programme.”

In the days after our talk, further key moments would occur for Lindblad as Racing Bulls worked through their run plan at pre-season testing, with the teenager setting the highest daily lap count of any driver on the final day with a tally of 165 tours of the Bahrain International Circuit.

But perhaps the biggest milestone is yet to come, when the new kid on the block lines up on the grid for the very first time at the Australian Grand Prix – a moment borne out of a sequence of events that started with a childhood dream all those years ago.