The F1 paddock may be looking at yet another teenage protege to soon join the grid, Arvid Lindblad. The Red Bull junior driver has a huge reputation already. Some have even compared his early racing career to that of Max Verstappen. But who is Red Bull’s ‘next Max Verstappen’, Arvid Lindblad?
On Tuesday, June 10, the FIA granted Lindblad a Super License. The driver was given the license, prior to his 18th birthday, at the special request of Red Bull. F1 fans may see Lindblad in action soon, perhaps during a Friday test session, or even in a full-time seat before too long. So let’s discover who the teenager is.
Who is Arvid Lindblad?
Arvid Anand Lindblad is a 17-year-old Red Bull junior driver, currently competing in F2. The teenager is making his debut in F2 this year, racing for Campos Racing. With him starting his racing journey at Red Bull, it has already drawn comparisons with Max Verstappen, who was driving for the Austrian team in F1 at the same age.
Lindblad was born on August 8, 2007, in Surrey, England. His father is Swedish, and his mother is of Indian descent. The child prodigy started karting at an early age and rose through the ranks rapidly. The driver joined the Red Bull junior academy in 2021 and was already competing in Italian F4 by the age of 15.
At the age of 16 in 2024, he joined PREMA to compete in F3. Lindblad finished fourth in the final championship standings and was the highest-ranking rookie. Notably, he won four races in total, including both the Sprint and the Feature race at Silverstone. He also became the youngest-ever feature race winner in F3 history that year.
In early 2025, Lindblad also won the Formula Regional Oceania Championship in a dominant manner. He was then quickly promoted to F2 and has already won 2 races this season. He broke the record for becoming the youngest-ever F2 race winner when he claimed victory at the Jeddah sprint. Recently, he also achieved his maiden F2 feature race win at Barcelona.
After receiving his FIA super license, it is likely that Red Bull will field the British-Swedish driver during a free practice session this year. If he continues on a similar upward trajectory throughout the F2 season, his name may even be in consideration for a race seat come 2026.
Could Lindblad be racing in F1 come 2026?
Red Bull Racing has a history of injecting young talent into the F1 grid. Their youth program, led by Helmut Marko, has churned out numerous F1 race winners, including two world champions. All four of their current F1 drivers, including those at Red Bull and Racing Bulls, have come from their youth academy.
When all these things are considered, it is not an impossible consideration to say Arvid Lindblad is next in line. Liam Lawson at RB and Yuki Tsunoda at the senior team have both struggled this year. Both are also out of contract at the end of 2025. If their performances don’t improve throughout the season, Red Bull could seriously consider getting Lindblad into one of those seats.
Even Max Verstappen’s future at Red Bull post-2025 is unknown. If the Austrian team believes in Lindblad’s potential as much as they did in Verstappen’s back in 2015, the teenager could well replace the 4x world champion, if he leaves.
