might be Britain’s fifth driver on the after {the teenager} was introduced as a Racing Bulls driver for subsequent season.
The 18-year-old from Surrey has impressed in Method Two this 12 months and have become the competitors’s youngest ever race winner, at 17 years and 243 days, in Saudi Arabia in April.
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With information of being promoted to Pink Bull to associate subsequent 12 months, a spot opened up at Racing Bulls alongside the retained .
And Pink Bull adviser Helmut Marko has opted for teenager Lindblad over Japanese driver , who’s dropped, however will stay within the Pink Bull household as a check and reserve driver.
However who’s Lindblad, what are his outcomes to this point and what can we anticipate?
Lindblad was born and raised in Virginia Water in Surrey, to a Swedish father and mom with Indian heritage, and began his karting profession on the age of 5 at Daytona Sandown Park in Esher.
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His success in karting included turning into the British Cadet Champion in 2019 and success within the WSK Tremendous Grasp Sequence in 2020 and the WSK Euro Sequence in 2021. Previous to this, he was put in contact with Method E driver (and 2025 champion) Oliver Rowland, who continues to behave as his mentor to today.
Such was Lindblad’s karting prowess, he joined the Pink Bull junior workforce in 2021 on the age of 13, whereas attending the Royal Grammar College in Guildford.
Regardless of his youth, Lindblad has all the time been assured: An opportunity encounter with Lando Norris at simply 14 years of age in 2021 demonstrated the mindset of a future champion. Lindblad would shoot his shot on the Adria Karting Raceway in Italy, telling the McLaren driver: “Lando, I would like you to recollect me, I’ll see you in 5 years.”
And it has come to fruition, with the pair poised to share the paddock subsequent 12 months.
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That karting profession formed Lindblad and it concluded in 2022 with a podium on the CIK-FIA World Cup KZ2, Lindblad graduated to the assorted Method 4 single-seater championships in 2023. He completed fifth within the UAE Championship, third within the Italian Championship and fourth within the Euro 4 Championship.
Lindblad received his first F3 race at 16 (Getty Photos)
The teen additionally grabbed the eye of onlookers with victory on the prestigious Macau Grand Prix in 2023.
Lindblad then broke data as he progressed up the ladder: he grew to become the youngest winner in Method Three historical past along with his dash race victory in Bahrain in 2024 on the age of 16, profitable 4 races over the course of the season and ending fourth within the drivers’ championship.
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In F2 this season, Lindblad competed for Campos Racing and his first victory got here within the dash race on the fearsome Jeddah road circuit. He additionally received the F2 function race in Barcelona in June and was granted a particular dispensation FIA tremendous licence on the age of 17, in comparable vogue to Mercedes teenager Kimi Antonelli. He’s at the moment sixth within the F2 standings with one spherical remaining in Abu Dhabi.
Lindblad speaks to Max Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase (left) (Getty Photos)
The Briton accomplished his first check at Imola in February and took half in his first F1 session by taking the place of Verstappen in first observe on the Mexican GP in October, elevating eyebrows with the sixth-fastest lap of the session.
“It was superb,” an elated Lindblad stated afterwards. “I’m extraordinarily grateful to everybody at Pink Bull for the chance. Superb to get my first official F1 session.
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“I feel I did first rate, I felt snug within the automotive and I feel the pace was okay. I feel I might positively go a bit faster with a couple of extra laps however, contemplating it was my first time in a automotive that I’ve solely achieved very restricted working in F1, I imply for instance this weekend I feel it’s 13, 14 seconds faster than F2, so the step is big.
“So, all that thought-about, with the restricted prep I’m pleased with the job at this time.”
The teenager will turn out to be the fifth British driver on the grid in 2026, with Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris, George Russell and Ollie Bearman already assured of their spots.
