F1 rookie Lindblad is in a class of his own for 2026

This time last year, Formula 1 was about to welcome a huge new cohort of rookies onto the grid. I still counted Liam Lawson among them as a driver who was entering his first full season having had two short replacement stints as Racing Bulls reserve, and he was joining Kimi Antonelli, Ollie Bearman, Gabriel Bortoleto and Isack Hadjar, with Franco Colapinto also getting another chance later in the season.

Those six are all still racing – albeit with Lawson and Hadjar having effectively swapped seats from a year ago – in a sign of the strength in depth that was coming through from Formula 2. But it was also a sign of teams wanting to get their new drivers up to speed in a known environment last year, ahead of the huge regulation change this time around.

Bringing in a rookie ahead of 2025 rather than '26 was seen as preferable, and that has played out further with just one new addition to this year’s field. But Arvid Lindblad is certainly not lacking confidence regarding the challenge that lays ahead.

In 2021, the young British driver – who asp has both Indian and Swedish heritage – approached Lando Norris at a karting event and said: “I want you to remember me – I’ll see you in five years.” Norris replied: “Yeah? Alright! Nice thinking mate!”

There was an immense amount of confidence in the then-14-year-old to even walk up to Norris in such a manner, let alone deliver his comment so clearly and walk away again. But Lindblad says that shouldn’t be mistaken for an arrogance in his demeanor.

“I think there's two sides to it,” Lindblad tells RACER. “So one is coming more to Lando's story. From the moment I started this journey when I was five, I believed I could be in Formula 1. I had that belief when I was five, I had that belief when I was 14 when I told Lando, and I've had that belief the whole way through.

"Then on the overconfidence thing... I don't know if everyone has it, but you always have a fear that you're not quite going to be good enough, which makes you work harder. So it's two sides.

"I mean, yes, I believed I could get to Formula 1, but I'm not naive. I'm 18, I'm young, everything's happened. I've come through very quickly and it's going to be challenging with this new regulation. So there's a lot of things for me to work on and to improve. But no, I definitely wouldn't say I'm coming in overconfident.”

While looking impressive in junior categories is one thing, delivering on the biggest stage is quite another. For now, it’s Lindblad’s performances under pressure that offer the main examples of his potential, and while the 2025 rookie class were preparing for their first F1 seasons, he was securing his FIA Super License by winning the Formula Regional Oceania Championship in New Zealand.

Doing so meant also following in Norris’ footsteps nine years on, although Norris would not get his McLaren seat for another three years. It marks a rapid rise for Lindblad, but he never felt an F1 chance was far away.

“I know that I was on the Red Bull program, and I think in the sense of if you perform, you get [a chance] … I knew that if I performed, there could be an opportunity," he said. “So, in that sense, had I thought about it? Not really, because for me, thinking about getting to F1 wasn't going to get me there. All I was thinking about was just performing in F2. But I knew that if I performed, and with how things were going, there was a potential opportunity.”

That opportunity was confirmed when Yuki Tsunoda was dropped by Red Bull, allowing Hadjar to move up alongside Max Verstappen and creating a vacancy for Lindblad. Perhaps that could have been seen coming early last year, but Lindblad’s approach has always remained a proactive one, as he wastes little time in dedicating headspace to the hypothetical.

Lindblad will have no fellow rookies to compare his performance against, but knows the only one that really counts anyway will be those of RB teammate Liam Lawson. Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool

While last year’s rookies all have a year’s experience under their belts now, it could be seen as beneficial for Lindblad to come into F1 with a clean slate to begin his learning – or it could mark an even bigger challenge for a rookie to get his head around.

“I don't know, in the sense that I don't really think about it, because for me that doesn't really help me," he said. "It is a big change, and it will be very challenging for the driver. Obviously when you step up to F1, everything sort of increases and there's more things that you have to manage from within the car, and I think there's going to be even more so of that with this new regulation.

“So that's all I'm focused on, trying to prepare as best as I can for the season. The fact that everyone's having a new [car], it's not really something I think about, because that's not something I can control.

“[Being the only rookie] is irrelevant, and that doesn't make me go faster. In the end, yes, when there's lots of rookies, you could say they were compared to each other, but it's a bit of a false comparison. In the end, the main comparison, as everyone knows in Formula 1, is to your teammate. So for me, whether I'm the only rookie or not is not something I think about.”

Where Lindblad says he has been focusing his time is on having the mental capacity to manage so many different aspects of the 2026 car. More so than simply having to get used to a far bigger team than in his junior career, he has an equally more complex machine at his disposal, but the 18-year-old sees opportunity in such a situation.

“I think for me, obviously I'm looking forward to being in F1, because you're driving the fastest cars against the best drivers. And then also, one thing I love about motorsport – obviously driving fast and on the limit, but even more so is searching for more performance in the little details and all those kind of things.

“I've enjoyed that in the bits I did last year, because there's more of that than what I'm used to. But I think there's going to be even more this year, because everything's so new, it's like a fresh start on many sides. That's something I'm definitely looking forward to.”

We might not have been spoiled with a huge influx of new names this year, but if the success of last season’s rookies is anything to go by, then Lindblad should certainly be one to watch.