Red Bull’s programme for junior driver Arvid Lindblad is preparing him to be ready for a Racing Bulls Formula 1 seat in 2026.
Lindblad, 17, will contest his rookie season in the FIA Formula 2 Championship next year after taking race victories in Italian F4 and FIA Formula 3 in 2023 and ’24 respectively.
With Liam Lawson getting the nod at Red Bull in 2025 over Yuki Tsunoda, Team Principal Christian Horner has acknowledged that he might need to let go of his Japanese talent, who will be embarking on a fight season at the re-badged Racing Bulls outfit.
The Red Bull Team Principal said [via The Race]: “We’re acutely aware that if we’re not able to provide an opportunity for Yuki – being, in all honesty, this year [2025] – does it make sense [to keep him]?”
Should Tsunoda move out of the Red Bull set-up, or a vacancy at Racing Bulls be created via another avenue, Lindblad certainly looks like the driver to be prepped to replace him.
This is due to Helmut Marko’s comments to the Inside Line F1 podcast, where he revealed the Red Bull Junior Programme’s plans to secure Lindblad an FIA Super License, the 2025 F2 title and an F1 TPC [testing of previous car] schedule.
“We are doing a special programme for him, sending him to New Zealand in this [Formula Regional] championship and the goal is to win it so he gets the necessary points for a Super License,” the Austrian said.
“Even so, we will be 18 only in August.”
Ahead of his rookie campaign in F2, Red Bull’s target for Lindblad is simple.
“We want him to win or to be one of the top players in the championship,” Marko said.
Regarding TPC F1 testing, Marko acknowledged that “Yes, it’s a plan.
“The number isn’t yet decided, but it will be several tests,” the Austrian added.
Marko referenced the likes of Jack Doohan, Oscar Piastri and Oliver Bearman being fully prepared for their F1 debuts via TPC programmes and wanting to replicate this with Lindblad ahead of a potential move to the premier category in 2026.
“And I think in the past, if I compare with Doohan, or with Piastri, or also with Bearman, they had a lot of tests in the two-year-old version Formula 1 car,” he said.
“And we want… For example, Lawson didn’t have this opportunity, and also, [Isack] Hadjar, to a certain amount, didn’t have this opportunity.
“And this we will change for Arvid that he, if he makes a very good season in Formula 2, that he can go with good experience into F1 in 2026, maybe.”
Horner lauds talented Lindblad
With regards to Marko’s comments, it’s clear that Red Bull has Hadjar in mind for an F1 future.
Marko shares the responsibility of selecting Red Bull’s four F1 drivers with Horner, who has also seen positive things from Lindblad.
Motorsport Week asked Horner his views on the British teenager during a press conference in Mexico City and the Red Bull boss recalled Lindblad’s impressive double victory at Silverstone earlier this year.
“Arvid is definitely a talent for the future,” Horner said.
“I think that he’s got the right attitude. He’s got the right approach and determination.
“And certainly what we’ve seen in some of his racing, Silverstone in particular this year, you know, he’s a very talented driver.
“So only time will tell how good he is and how far he can go.
“But certainly he and [Racing Bulls driver] Isack [Hadjar] are both talents that we’re quite excited about.”
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