Red Bull Motorsports
F1
This is Arvid Lindblad's journey from the junior ranks to Racing Bulls
As the latest Red Bull Junior Team driver to graduate is been announced as a Visa Cash App Racing Bulls driver for 2026, take a look at how the the young Formula One star in the making got here.
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Visa Cash App Racing Bulls' new Formula One recruit Arvid Lindblad has been on the fast track to motorsports success pretty much since he learned to walk. British-Swedish talent first sat behind a wheel at the age of three and later joined the Red Bull Junior Team talent factory in 2021, at the age of just 13.
A protégé of former Formula E World Champion Oliver Rowland, Lindblad battled through the ranks of karting before progressing to junior formulae at 15, going on to set the record as the youngest-ever race winner in both the FIA Formula 3 and FIA Formula 2 championships.
Now, at just 18, he's been handed a seat to partner Liam Lawson in the 2026 Visa Cash App Racing Bulls lineup. Read on to get the full story on how Lindblad has powered through the ranks all the way to Formula One.
Lindblad's record-breaking run through F3 and F2 has been a sight to see
© Dutch Photo Agency/Red Bull Content Pool
Now his focus is now on an F1 debut in 2026
© Dutch Photo Agency/Red Bull Content Pool
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The 20th Red Bull Junior Team graduate to F1
It's big news for the 2026 FIA Formula 1 World Championship, and even bigger news for Arvid Lindblad, that after just one year in F2, he'll join Liam Lawson to form Visa Cash App Racing Bulls' official driver lineup next year.
"Arvid's rapid progression marks him as one of the standout young talents in the sport," said Alan Permane, Team Principal of Visa Cash App Racing Bulls. "Together, he and Lawson form a strong and dynamic pairing, one that embodies the ambition and youthful spirit of VCARB as we enter a transformative new era for Formula One."
Lindblad is another graduate from Campos Racing to make it to F1
© Dutch Photo Agency/Red Bull Content Pool
2026 will be a big challenge and I know there's a lot to learn, but I'm ready to work closely with the team and rise to it. I can't wait to get started
At just 18-years-old, this promotion makes Lindblad the 20th Red Bull Junior Team programme driver to reach the pinnacle of F1. Along the way he's demonstrated raw speed and potential in abundance.
"Since I started this journey at five-years-old, it was always my goal to be in Formula One, so it's a proud moment to take this step," Lindblad said. "I'm extremely grateful to the Red Bull Junior Programme and my personal team for their guidance, mentorship and belief; none of this would have been possible without their support. 2026 will be a big challenge and I know there's a lot to learn, but I'm ready to work closely with the team and rise to it. I can't wait to get started, it’s going to be an exciting year!"
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Arvid Lindblad's record-breaking early racing career
Born in London in 2007, this driving phenom took up racing at the turn of the 2010s. He started with motocross at the age of three, before switching to karting aged five. There, he quickly caught the attention of the Red Bull Junior Team, joining the highly respected programme at the age of 13. As he moved from karts to full-blown cars, Lindblad rapidly mastered F4 and then went on to become the youngest-ever F3 Sprint winner at his debut in Bahrain in March 2024, aged just 16.
A double win in on home soil at Silverstone was standout performance in F3
© Dutch Photo Agency/Red Bull Content Pool
The same year he bagged a home race double by winning both the sprint and feature races at the iconic Silverstone circuit. In September 2024, a rapid move up to the cutthroat F2 division came when Lindblad joined the highly respected Campos Racing team. There he became the youngest race winner in F2 history at the Jeddah sprint, before claiming the title of the second-youngest polesitter ever in Barcelona after Théo Pourchaire. From there, it was only natural that the big leagues would come calling.
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How Lindblad balances racing and teenage life
Despite having been put behind a steering wheel as a toddler, Lindblad claims that his path to F1 wasn't always a smooth one. In the early days, mother was initially unconvinced that motorsport was a viable career choice.
"My mum comes from a very academic background. She just never imagined it would be possible, so at the beginning it was difficult," Lindblad recalls. "Eventually, she got onboard with it, kind of accepted that I was quite good and there was a chance I could go quite far – and that we had to push as a family."
Lindblad's mother is Indian and his father Swedish. Together, they helped a teenage Lindblad find a necessary balance between academia and high octane racing. "I'd work really hard in the week, do my homework and get good grades, then I'd be allowed to go racing on weekends," he remembers. "We found a decent compromise."
Lindblad has balanced racing with study, but is now full time in F1 mode
© Dutch Photo Agency/Red Bull Content Pool
Lindblad may now be focused on racing full time, but as recently as 2024 he was working to balance education and engines. "I'm working towards my A-Levels," he said at the time. "I actually quite enjoy the schooling. We're doing our own thing, but having something to take my mind off racing is key in finding the right balance."
Focusing on something completely outside of the sport is a welcome reprieve. "It isn't stressful and doesn't take away from the racing," he said. "Then, when I have days off and have got nothing to do, it's about having that balance and taking my mind off the racing. As we all know, it can get very overwhelming sometimes, so to have that break is good. So, I'm working towards my A-Levels. I'm only going to do two – maths and chemistry."
With a top level career in high-speed cornering angles fast approaching, these are definitely the best subject options.
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The Red Bull Racing legend who inspired Arvid Lindblad
Even before being called up to F1, Lindblad had his sights on the series. He remembers F1 being on the TV while he was growing up and, like most young racers, he always dreamed of plying his trade at the highest level. Unlike most young racers however, inspiration came from meeting a legend of the sport in the flesh.
"I did the Red Bull Racing show run in Houston alongside David Coulthard, which was pretty cool," he says. "I drove the RB8, which was the 2012 World Championship-winning car. That’s cool enough, but this is the car I used to watch on the TV when I fell in love with the sport and something I never imagined I'd get the opportunity to drive. That was so cool and to do it with the Red Bull team in Houston was great.”
Driving the Houtson Red Bull showrun with David Coulthard was a highlight
© Chris Tedesco/Red Bull Content Pool
I did the Red Bull Racing show run in Houston alongside David Coulthard, which was pretty cool. I drove the RB8, which was the 2012 World Championship-winning car
As for his ambitions, he wants to match Coulthard's highs and then some: "I want to be a world champion and ideally more than once. It might be arrogant to say that, but when my career is done, I don't know if I'd be completely happy if I'd pack my bags and not even have one. My dream is to be a multiple world champion."
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Mentors and rivals who pushed Lindblad forward
In the junior team, Lindblad had Guillaume 'Rocky' Rocquelin, the Head of Driver Academy at Oracle Red Bull Racing, as an inspiration. Rocky even assigned homework in Lindblad's younger days. "He really tries to tick all the boxes of what a racing driver needs to think about," Lindblad says. "Rocky's got such a vast range of knowledge and experience. To be able to pick his brain and try to learn what I can from him is super beneficial, because his knowledge pool is arguably one of the biggest in motorsport."
Racing driver and coach Oliver Rowland is another key mentor: "Ollie's been so crucial to my career. I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for him. We started working together when I was seven. He was racing in the World Series at the time, so he was very much on his own career path to F1, kind of where I am now. In 2017, it was me, Ollie and my mechanic going everywhere with a van and a small tent. It started from there and just grew. I won the British Championship with him and then I went to Europe. Every day I was racing I was messaging him about how it was going."
Former Formula E champion Oliver Rowland has long been at Lindblad's side
© Dutch Photo Agency/Red Bull Content Pool
As for rivals, Lindblad says that while "Nemesis is a big word", he called F3 driver Freddie Slater a rival in their younger days, alongside Kimi Antonelli, the Mercedes driver who Lindblad is now set to clash with again in F1.
"He's someone who I raced in karting since we were about 11," Lindblad says of Antonelli. "I really respect him. I think he's really talented and he deserves the opportunities he's been given. I think some of our battles over the years have been some of my most enjoyable. I say it quite often, but I feel he's the guy I've raced who I had to give everything against, 100 percent, to beat him. He's definitely the guy that's pushed me the most."
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Prep starts now: How Lindblad is getting ready for F1
Of course, driving in F1 requires more than a mindset. It's a famously gruelling sport, with drivers battling massive forces in the car and losing a significant amount of liquid in the process through sweating. By now, Lindblad is ready for it.
Lindblad has already been working hard to get in shape for F1 racing
© Dutch Photo Agency/Red Bull Content Pool
"I have a trainer and we do a lot of cardio and strength," he says. "Both are super important. Especially with the neck, the G-forces in an F1 car are really insane. On the cardio, these races in F1 are up to two hours and it can get crazy hot in the cockpit, so you need to be strong and generally very fit."
As for a career he'd like to emulate as he prepares to step into Formula One? "Lewis Hamilton. Even if it's not the most politically correct answer here in Red Bull. He's English and a man of colour, so I found him somewhat relatable. And he was really fast and really impressive. He was the guy I was rooting for since I started watching racing."
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