Fast track to F1? Lindblad discusses F3 title fight, India connect, and more

In what is his rookie F3 season, Arvid Lindblad finds himself firmly in the title hunt after an incredible Silverstone round – where he became the first driver to win all races in a single F3 weekend. And the 16-year-old is already on Red Bull Racing’s radar, with the team’s motorsport advisor Helmut Marko recently admitting in his Speedweek column that the young Briton has “Formula 1 quality”.

We caught up with Lindblad to discuss his meteoric rise up the single-seater ranks, his Indian roots and a lot more.

Road to F3

“It all started with my dad,” answered Lindbald when asked about what ignited his passion for racing. He had a go at motocross at the age of three, but admits that he “didn’t have that love for it immediately”. “But then, when I went karting for the first time when I was five, I just fell in love with it immediately and it all started from there.”

He started his kart racing career in 2015 and went on to win titles in WSK Super Master Series OKJ, WSK Euro Series and WSK Final Cup OK class. His results caught the attention of Red Bull and he joined the team’s junior programme in 2020, when he was 13 years old.

He made his single-seater debut in the second half of the 2022 Italian F4 before moving to Prema in 2023 for a full season. Here, he made an impressive start, winning six out of the first 12 races; however, the title slipped out of hands as he faced some car-related trouble and he ended up third in the standings. But he did redeem himself by the end of 2023, winning both Macau F4 races.

Lindblad: I’m not focusing on the F3 championship

Now less than two years after making the switch from karting to single-seaters, Lindblad has graduated to the FIA Formula F3 World Championship, where he’s racing for reigning champions Prema. He kicked off his rookie season on a strong note after winning the season-opening sprint race in Bahrain. He followed that up with a feature race win at Barcelona, becoming the first repeat winner this year.

“It’s been a big step [from Italian F4 to F3],” explained Lindblad. “I wasn’t naive going in, I knew it was going to be very challenging. The level is super high, the car is pretty different, the format and tyres are completely different. But we prepared well and I think that’s why it’s gone better than we expected.”

The Silverstone weekend really put the spotlight on Lindblad as he secured a clean sweep on home soil, and at a track where he’s never raced before. This also firmly puts him in the title hunt; he’s now second overall – just six points behind his more experienced Prema teammate Gabriele Mini. Despite this, Lindblad admits he doesn’t want to focus on the title just yet.

“I couldn’t have even dreamt of it [winning at Silverstone]. For sure it’s a confidence booster, but I’m not going to let it affect my approach and mentality for the rest of the year,” he shared.

“Going into this year, I knew it was going to be a big step, so our expectations were quite low. I’m always just trying to learn as much as I can from my two experienced teammates, and really just focusing on myself and trying to do the best I can. That’s the same approach that I’ve had for every race so far this year and that’s why the results have been strong. So, I want to keep that approach.”

He added that he expects the next two rounds to be quite challenging. Hungaroring is another new venue for him and Spa is a challenging track even for seasoned racers, given the changing weather conditions.

“I just have to really focus on myself and try to maximise as best as I can. Then we will see when we go into Monza how we’re doing and if we’re still in the hunt. And then we can maybe start to look more at the championship,” Lindblad said.

“But I think, at the moment, I’m not even thinking about it. I’m just going to try and do the best that I can every time I’m in the car and we’ll see when we get there.”

Indian roots

While his surname is clearly indicative of his Swedish ancestry, few know about Lindblad’s Indian heritage (from his mother’s side). When asked about this, Lindblad said, “I’m very keen to explore my Indian roots and know more about it because it’s [a] part of me and I’m proud of it.”

In fact, growing up, Lindlbad looked up to Lewis Hamilton – not just because of his on-track success but also because of what he represented. “Being of mixed race myself, I always looked towards Lewis Hamilton. When I was young, watching TV with my dad on the sofa, he was always the guy I’d look up to.”

“I think nowadays it’s slightly different, though,” he added. “Now that I’m further up the [racing] ladder, I don’t really see the F1 drivers as my idols anymore. It’s more that I have huge amounts of respect for them because I know what a high level they are at.”

F1 on the cards?

Red Bull has plenty of talented drivers such as Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar waiting in the wings to make the step up to F1. And Lindlbad’s recent success sees him enter the frame as well. “He’s one of the brightest talents that we have in the junior programme. We're going to keep an eye on him for the future, for sure,” said Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner while speaking to GPBlog.

But Lindblad says it’s still not a given that he’ll move up to F2 next year. “With the one year of F4 under my belt, I think I’m still very inexperienced. I’m sure there’s still more that I can learn from doing F3 till the end of the year. But at the moment, I’m not really sure; it could be another year in F3 or it could be F2. It’s going to be Red Bull’s decision.”

The ultimate goal, of course, remains to make it to F1 with Red Bull – “[I’m] looking forward to hopefully doing a few more years together [with Red Bull] and ideally the goal is to be in F1 together as well.”

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