Arvid Lindblad is third in the Formula 2 drivers’ standings and is the series’ best-placed rookie after six rounds. With a week until F2 returns at Spielberg, the Red Bull junior spoke to Feeder Series and other selected media at a virtual roundtable during the week about his season so far.

By Martin Lloyd

Lindblad has already taken three podiums, including two victories, in his debut F2 season, but the most striking feature of his campaign to date has been his consistency.

He has failed to score in only one race, the first of the season in Melbourne. Since that 10th-place sprint race finish, he has finished in eighth or higher in every race. The Campos Racing driver recently reached new heights in Barcelona, taking his first F2 feature race victory in dominant style at his team’s home event. 

“I didn’t even realise that I’d been in the points in basically every race until after Barcelona,” Lindblad told Feeder Series and other selected media at a virtual roundtable. “I think we’ve been quite competitive this year. We’ve been strong in almost every race. The team has done a really good job, so I think that’s why that [consistency] is there.”

The start to 2025 marks a step change from the end of Lindblad’s 2024 F3 campaign with Prema, during which he failed to score in any of the last six races of the season. That meant he dropped from second in the championship after his double victory at Silverstone to fourth by the end of the season.

“F3 was quite unique,” Lindblad said. “It looked worse than what it was. There were a few things that happened, some mistakes in crucial moments on my side and some things out of my control that made it look quite bad at the end of the season. Looking more at this year, I’m happy with the consistency that we’re showing.”

A string of feature-race collisions in those final three rounds derailed Lindblad’s title charge. He was eliminated from the Budapest feature race after a collision with Matías Zagazeta, for which the Peruvian was handed a five-second penalty. Lindblad then retired after a collision at Bruxelles with Christian Mansell at Spa. Finally, he was given a five-second penalty for an incident with Callum Voisin in the Monza feature race, which demoted him from ninth to 16th. 

Though Lindblad started the season with six top-10 qualifying results, he was let down by failing to qualify in the top 12 positions at each of the last three rounds. Lindblad’s F2 qualifying showings thus far have been strong. He qualified outside of the top 10 in Melbourne and Sakhir and thus missed out on the reversed grid in the sprint race, but he has qualified inside the top six at every round since then, with the highlight being his maiden pole in Barcelona. 

This qualifying form has given Lindblad the platform to perform in races, and the 17-year-old sits eight points away from championship leader Alex Dunne after six rounds. He is the highest-placed of the three Red Bull junior drivers in the series.

At a meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council last Tuesday, Lindblad was granted an FIA Super Licence. Drivers under 18 are not normally allowed to hold Super Licences even if they reach the 40-point threshold to hold one. Lindblad will not turn 18 until August, but in accordance with article 13.1.2, the FIA noted that Lindblad had ‘recently and consistently demonstrated outstanding ability and maturity in single-seater formula car competition’.

He said at the virtual press conference that he was ‘very thankful and very proud’ to have been handed an exemption.

Lindblad competed in FRegional Oceania in January and February, taking the title with six wins in 15 races. As a result, he gained 18 Super Licence points, moving him above 40 points. Red Bull moved in March to secure an exemption that would allow him to compete for either Red Bull or RB before his 18th birthday on 8 August, which falls between the Budapest and Zandvoort F1 rounds. 

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency