Arvid Lindblad's Journey to Formula 1

In 2026, young British racing driver Arvid Lindblad will make his Formula 1 debut with Racing Bulls. Learn about his journey to F1 with Silverstone’s guide. 

Since 1950, there hasn’t been a year where Great Britain hasn’t been represented on the Formula 1 grid.

Fast forward to 2026 and the grid will boast five Brits, the most in over 20 years.

In Melbourne for the 2026 Australian Grand Prix, at 18 years and 212 days old, Arvid Lindblad will make his full-time Formula 1 debut with Racing Bulls and become the fourth youngest driver to ever participate in a Grand Prix.

Silverstone look back at Arvid’s incredibly successful motorsport career so far and revisit the achievements and milestones that have propelled him to reach his dream of becoming a Formula 1 driver. 

The early days: Arvid's introduction to motorsport 

Arvid’s family always had an interest in motorsport, with Formula 1 on the television each race weekend. However, his first taste of motorsport was actually on two wheels, when Arvid’s dad introduced him to motocross. The initial passion wasn’t there, but a couple of years later, when he was five, Arvid set foot in a go kart for the first time, and that’s when everything changed. 

After the initial introduction from his dad, Arvid found himself enjoying F1 on his own accord. 

“I’d watch F1 and ask, ‘how do I get there?’, just wanting to be there,” Arvid told Silverstone. “I enjoyed the sport, I had the passion for it and I wanted to be competing in Formula 1.”

Arvid officially began competitive kart racing when he was seven and two years later, he was taken under the wing of the current FIA Formula E World Champion, Oliver Rowland, after Arvid’s dad was exploring the option of working with a driver coach. 

“When I was nine, we set up a karting team together,” he told us. “We won the Vice British Championship the first and the British Championship the second year. 

“Working with Ollie has been instrumental to my career and other than my parents, he’s been the most influential person, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without him. I probably would’ve stopped or been lost somewhere if it wasn’t for him; having his knowledge and expertise, I can’t describe how much of a difference it’s made.” 

Later in his karting career, Arvid won the WSK Super Master Series in the OKJ class in 2020 and in 2021, he won the WSK Euro Series and WSK Final for OK karts. 
 

Finding F1: Joining forces with Red Bull Racing

In 2021, for his campaign in karting that year, Arvid joined forces with Red Bull, becoming a Red Bull supported driver. 

He and his father were eating breakfast in their hotel in Portimão when they received a phone call from Helmut Marko.

“My dad told me that Dr Helmut Marko wanted to have a meeting with us to join the Red Bull Junior programme,” Arvid told us. “It was a very surreal moment, and I definitely wasn’t expecting it. 

“I even got a bit emotional afterwards because it was such a cool thing, and especially because I was so young at the time.”

After receiving their support for his 2021 season, Arvid became a full member of the programme in 2022, aged only 14. Upon Red Bull’s request, Arvid was granted his FIA Super Licence at the age of 17.

Working with Red Bull gave Arvid the opportunities he could only dream of when growing up. He first drove an F1 car in September 2024 – the Red Bull RB8 – at Houston showrun, then completed his maiden private test in the AlphaTauri AT04 at Imola in February 2025. 

Since then, Arvid has completed numerous F1 Free Practice sessions, making his on-track debut in an F1 car in front of his home fans at Silverstone during the 2025 British Grand Prix weekend. His FP1 stint continued later in the year, replacing four-time World Champion Max Verstappen at the Mexico City Grand Prix – where he finished P6 – and at the final weekend of the season in Abu Dhabi, where he took control of Yuki Tsunoda’s car, finishing P15.

Climbing the ladder: Junior categories

In 2022, Arvid made his single seater debut with Van Amersfoort Racing ahead of the fifth round of the Italian F4 Championship, after testing outside of race weekends.

The following year, he started taking maiden victories in the different categories he completed in. 

In the Formula 4 UAE Championship with Hitech Grand Prix, Arvid won race three at the opening round of the season, held at the Dubai Autodrome, and completed that racing campaign fifth in the standings after taking a trip to the podium at the season finale at Yas Marina. 

Arvid’s main campaign of 2023 was the Italian F4 Championship with PREMA Racing. He took his first win of the championship at Imola, secured a double win at Misano and won all three races at the Temple of Speed – Monza – to open up his championship lead to 80 points. Ultimately, he finished the season in P3 after issues with a lack of pace during the last three rounds. 

In the Euro 4 Championship, he secured pole position for the opening round in Mugello, and finished the race in P4. Throughout his Euro 4 campaign, Arvid only made one visit to the top step of the podium which came at the final race during the Monza round, but a podium in Barcelona left him P4 in the overall Championship standings. 

Later in 2023, Arvid joined PREMA to complete in the F4 South East Asia Championship at the Macau Grand Prix round. A dominant performance throughout the entire event, Arvid secured pole position, won the qualification race and pulled away in the main race to take victory. 

Throughout 2023, Arvid was also an Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award finalist alongside Taylor Barnard, Callum Voisin and Joseph Loake. Although he didn’t win the award, he still had the opportunity to drive both open and closed wheel cars around Silverstone and reach for victory. 

“The first time I drove at Silverstone, I went on the track and it was like I knew it inside out, although I’d never driven it before,” Arvid told Silverstone. “I’d never even done simulator work, but I just rocked up and I knew it better than any other track I’d driven.
“I had all those years of experience of the F1 game. It’s just always been about Silverstone.”

In 2024, Arvid participated in the first three rounds of the Formula Regional Middle East Championship with Mumbai Falcons and he won the second round in Yas Marina by winning the race from reverse pole. 

For the same year’s FIA Formula 3 Championship, Arvid signed with PREMA Racing, a team he’d competed with in several different categories in his junior career thus far. A strong year for Arvid, he won the Bahrain sprint race, took P2 in the Australian sprint and P1 in the feature race at the Spanish Grand Prix. A short while later, at his home Grand Prix weekend, Arvid won both sprint and feature races. Heavy rain during the allocated slot for Saturday’s Silverstone sprint meant the race was rescheduled to the early evening, where Lindblad passed Noel Léon at the first corner, while rain before Sunday’s feature race meant most drivers started the race on wet tyres, but Arvid and his PREMA team made the decision to pit for dry tyres during the formation lap. 

After fellow Brit Callum Voisin was penalised for making an off-track overtake, Arvid inherited the race win and took another trip to the top step of the podium at Silverstone. 

Ultimately, Arvid finished his 2024 F3 campaign in P4 with 113 points.

A successful F3 season saw Arvid take the step up to the FIA Formula 2 Championship with Campos Racing for 2025.

Prior to his main season kicking off, Arvid travelled down under to start his 2025 campaign in the Formula Regional Oceania Championship with M2 Competition, the same team current F1 World Champion Lando Norris competed and won the championship with in 2016. Like his fellow Brit, Arvid won the championship with 370 points after securing six wins across the season. His win in the championship secured 18 points for his FIA Super Licence. 

In Formula 2, Arvid won the Jeddah sprint race, making him the youngest race winner in F2 at 17 years and 254 days old. He finished P2 in the Imola sprint, before winning the feature in Barcelona, becoming the second youngest polesitter in F2 history, a pole which he then converted to the race victory. Arvid went on to finish second in the Monza sprint and win the Abu Dhabi sprint at the end of the year, finishing his F2 season sixth in the overall standings with 134 points. 
 

Looking ahead to 2026: Arvid's dream come true 

At the beginning of December, ahead of the final race weekend of the 2025 Formula 1 season at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, it was announced that Arvid Lindblad would be graduating from Formula 2, after two years of showcasing his talent, to the absolute pinnacle of global motorsport. 
Racing alongside fellow Formula 3 and Formula 2 graduate Liam Lawson, Arvid will make his full-time F1 debut at the Australian Grand Prix in March. 

“Red Bull give opportunities to the drivers they think are deserving of it,” Arvid told us. “In the end, we both want the same thing: they want the best drivers they can get, and I want to be in Formula 1.”

Arvid’s hard work and dedication has paid off, his successful performances throughout the junior categories bringing him to this point now. 

While Arvid’s ultimate goal is to become Formula 1 World Champion, he’s preparing to race on the biggest stage of all. 
 

Arvid Lindblad will make his British Grand Prix debut as a full-time F1 driver at Silverstone in 2026. Be there to cheer on all five British drivers. Get your tickets now.