F1 Rookie Reveals Norris Text Message, Verstappen Advice and the Drivers He Can't Wait to Battle
EXCLUSIVE: Arvid Lindblad opens up on his ambitions ahead of his debut F1 season with Racing Bulls.
"I want to be the first Arvid Lindblad and not the second whoever,” says the confident teenager who will become the 10th driver born in the 21st century to start an F1 Grand Prix in Australia next month.
Just four years ago, Lindblad was behind the wheel of a go kart, while his now Red Bull comrade Max Verstappen was winning his second of four consecutive F1 world titles.
Now in 2026, the 18-year-old will become a full-time F1 driver for Visa Cash App Racing Bulls, but he is refusing to be overwhelmed regardless of his age and aims to prove exactly why he's one of the youngest to ever do it.
"I'll try to get stuck in and make some good moves in the races," the rookie told SPORTbible. "I will definitely be having some fun this year on track, and yeah, I'm looking forward to it."
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Despite his high hopes, Lindblad admits he is heading into a number of unknowns, and isn't setting specific goals, with hard work the teenager's priority heading to Melbourne.
"I'm not a huge fan of setting outcome goals, especially now in this point of the year" he said. "I'm just focused on working hard with the team, you know, on track, in the sim, at the factory, just trying to get as prepared as I can, and then we'll see when we get to Melbourne."
The Australian Grand Prix will start a completely new era in F1, with the sport undergoing its most radical regulation change in history, with new power units and chassis for drivers to adapt to.
However, adaptability should be no issue for Lindblad, who has been promoted up through the junior formulas on an annual basis, making his F2 debut in 2025 following his maiden F3 season in 2024.
"I think driving style is something that's been spoken about a lot in the media," Lindblad said. "To be honest, when I drive, I just try to adapt to what I have and get the best out of what I have underneath me.
"There's a lot to get up to speed with, I'll be working hard with the team to understand how to get the most out of it."
Lindblad was officially confirmed as a Racing Bulls driver in December, replacing Yuki Tsunoda on the grid after Isack Hadjar's promotion to the Red Bull team for 2026.
Speaking on life since he signed the contract, Lindblad says he is yet to properly introduce himself to his new rivals but did receive a message from reigning champion Lando Norris.
"Since the announcement it's kind of just been the break, and obviously in Barcelona, everyone's kind of very focused on staying in their own bubble," Lindblad said,
"In Bahrain I'll cross paths a bit more with the drivers, and it'll be nice to sort of have a bit of a chat with some of them.
"Out of everyone, Lando has been quite friendly, he sent me a message when the announcement came out.
"Then obviously Max as well, he's been very good.
"I was signed to the Red Bull programme when I was 13, so I've known him now for a few years, and he's always been very friendly, very willing to sort of offer advice."
However, despite his bond with the Dutchman, Lindblad will be pinching himself at the prospect of sharing the track with another multiple world champion, Lewis Hamilton.
"Growing up, the driver I looked up to most as I got into the sport was Lewis, I thought it was quite funny that his first year in F1 was the year I was born," he laughed.
Racing under the British flag but of Swedish and Indian heritage, Lindblad added: "He was the only driver of colour, and obviously he was very successful winning lots of championships.
"So he's obviously one, when I say looking forward to racing, it's more just sharing the track with, you know, we'll see if I'm gonna be battling with him."
Despite not putting pressure on himself to go wheel to wheel with Hamilton, the rookie did have ambitions to get his elbows out with some more familiar rivals when the lights go out next month.
Although Lindblad will be this year's only newcomer, he has links to 2025's crop of rookies, having raced them and even been team-mates throughout his junior career.
"We've seen it before in F1, you know with Albon, Russell, Norris, Max, Leclerc, they were sort of a whole group that came through together.
"I think it's quite funny that there's like a similar thing going on now, with me, Kimi, Ollie, Isack.
"Having a few battles with them as well will be fun, me and Kimi were teammates within karting in 2021, you know, I've raced against him quite a lot.
"It will be cool to just have a few battles with them, because from fighting in karting to fighting with them in F1, I think it's quite cool," Lindblad said with a smile on his face.
Lindblad will continue testing the 2026 Racing Bulls challenger next week in Bahrain, before he takes to the track in a competitive F1 session for the first time in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday, March 7
Topics: Formula 1, Motorsport, Red Bull Racing, Spotlight
Tom Jenkins