Arvid Lindlbad got on a historic F1 podium
The only rookie on the 2026 World Championship grid was eighth with his Racing Bulls and is already in the books of the category.
Arvid Lindblad is the latest gem polished by Helmut Marko, who served as Red Bull’s strongman and talent program manager for 20 years. The Austrian, with his martial regime, was the man who put pilots in and out of Milton Keynes without his pulse shaking. The Austrian octogenarian was the last member of the iron triangle that managed the destinies of the energy drinks team to be ejected. Adrian Newey was the first to put together the bag in May 2024, Christian Horner was fired in July 2025 and the winner of the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans was fired last December. Before leaving, he made his last move: he promoted the young Englishman to Racing Bulls for 2026.
Lindlad turned 18 on August 8. He joined Red Bull Junior in 2022 and in his meteoric career he raced in Italian Formula 4 in 2022 and 2023, Formula 3 in 2024 and Formula 2 in 2022.5. With just four seasons of experience in motorsports, he landed in Formula 1 and had his official debut at the Australian GP.
The Englishman, son of a Swedish father and a mother of Indian descent (his grandparents were born in the Punjab region), is the only debutant on the 2026 grid. His youth contrasts with, for example, the returns of Checo Pérez and Valtteri Bottas to ownership in the brand new Cadillac. Not to mention the veterans Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. However, at Melbourne Park Lindblad really stood out.
All weekend he was among the ten (he reached Q3) and finished eighth in his first race, well ahead of his teammate Liam Lawson, who never recovered from his terrible start in which Franco Colapinto miraculously avoided him. Lindblad scored four points in his first race and became the third-youngest driver to score points.
The category is headed by Max Verstappen, who in Malaysia 2015 finished in the end zone at 17 years, 5 months and 29 days. The Dutchman’s record can never be lowered, because the FIA imposed the Verstappen law after his debut: you cannot race in F1 under 18 years of age. The four-time champion’s guard is Kimi Antonelli, who in Australia 2025 (his debut) managed to score at the age of 18 years, 6 months and 19 days. Lindlbad entered the top ten in Melbourne at exactly 18 years and 7 months old and surpassed Lance Stroll by 13 days, who left the podium with his score at Canada 2017.
“The truth is that I was left speechless; it was a crazy race. Coming into the weekend, the points were not up to expectations. I was hopeful after yesterday, but I’m very happy. “I am very grateful to the entire team, to RBPT and Ford, for giving me the package to fight,” said the Englishman after the race. “When I was five years old I had a dream: to be in Formula 1. Today I am living my dream and I want to do it as best as possible,” he added.
During part of the race, Lindblad crossed paths with Verstappen and fought inch by inch for position. “I worked my whole life to get to Formula 1, and this weekend has been a very special moment for me. I greatly respect the veteran drivers of the sport, who have done an incredible job, but I am not going to give up and give them my job,” he warned. “I fell in love with this sport watching Lewis Hamilton on television. It was one of the main reasons I wanted to be here today. “It was crazy racing with him today and I had a lot of tense moments.”
