Arvid Lindblad will be on the 2026 Formula 1 grid with Racing Bulls, and the Briton has recalled one moment from his childhood that now feels surreal.
At 14, he walked up to Lando Norris at a karting event and told him he would “see him in five years”.
The line came from a very specific place: Lewis Hamilton’s famous pledge to then McLaren boss Ron Dennis.
“It’s been my dream to be in F1 since I started this journey when I was five, so having that come true is very special,” Lindblad told Autosport.
Lindblad remembers the day clearly. Norris had arrived to launch his own kart chassis. Lindblad was racing at the same circuit and felt a sudden urge to shoot his shot.
“I told my friend: ‘I think I’m going up to Lando.’ And he was like: ‘Oh no, you don’t have the guts,'” he explained.
“I didn’t really know what I was going to say, and the first thing that came out was: ‘I want you to remember me. I’m going to see you in five years.’ I’d gotten a bit of inspiration from the Lewis Hamilton–Ron Dennis story, saying, ‘I’m going to drive one of your cars one day.'”
“I think he was taken aback a bit and said something like: ‘Oh, that’s nice to think of it.’
“I’m sure there are lots of people that say those kinds of things, so it didn’t really mean anything at the time.”
But Lindblad said the confidence behind that moment was real. “Like I said, I had this belief I would make it to F1.
“I had it when I said that to Lando, and I have that same sort of belief today. It’s a funny story to look back on, because it will become true. It will be five years.”
A belief that never left Lindblad
Lindblad’s rise has been quick. Red Bull signed him as a karting star in 2021, where he then progressed through Formula 4, Formula 3, and Formula 2 at high speed.
“I don’t come from a motorsport background. It was really a passion that I drove myself,” he recounted. “When I was three, my dad put me on a motocross bike for the first time because he’d done a tiny bit when he was younger. That didn’t last very long, as it was a bit too much for my mum. But then I went karting for the first time when I was five, and I just loved it instantly.
“After the first time, I already knew it was something I wanted to do. My earliest racing memories are from when I was four, when I sat down and watched F1 with my dad. And I remember asking, ‘How do I get there one day? Is it possible? What do you have to do?'”
Even as a kid, he never imagined a different future.
“I don’t really know why — maybe I was a bit naive — but I just had this inner belief that I’d be there. Not in an arrogant way; it was more like I knew I wanted to be in F1 and I was going to do anything to make that happen. From the moment I started, I never envisioned a future where I wasn’t. I always believed that I would be in F1.”
The Red Bull call that changed everything
Lindblad was in Portugal when the now outgoing Red Bull advisor, Helmut Marko, phoned to tell him that he wanted to organise a meeting to tell him about the news.
“We were at breakfast in the hotel when the phone started ringing,” Lindblad says. “I don’t remember the number, but at the bottom it said ‘Graz, Austria’. My Dad had a bit of a skip in his step, and he said Helmut Marko wanted to meet us. I was excited to meet the man who had put World Champions like Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen in F1.”
Lindblad says the relationship was different from the public perception.
“It’s funny because I hear and read things, but that’s not what I experienced. I’ve always had a really good relationship with Dr Marko.
“We’ve always been very honest with each other. He doesn’t really like excuses. I don’t really like to make excuses.
“We’ve always been very open, which has helped me develop. I’m grateful for the opportunity, but I also have to thank the entire Red Bull Junior Programme. Rocky [Guillaume Roquelin] has been very involved, and there’s a whole team behind it.
“Being honest, I think I’m not 100 per cent ready, but that’s normal,” he says. “I’ve progressed through the ranks very quickly, so I’m used to being in the position where I’m sort of thrown in the deep end and have to find a way to figure it out. I have full confidence in myself that I’ll find a way.”
He sees 2026’s new regulations as both an opportunity and a testing ground.
“What’s going to make 2026 a good year is that by working hard and learning a lot, I’m going to come out a much better driver than I went in.
“It is a clean slate for everyone with the new cars, so you could say it’s an advantage to come in now. But there are two sides to the coin. F1 will be very different to what we have now, so I still think the experienced guys will have an advantage. There’s a lot to learn, and I need to just focus on that and getting the best out of myself.”
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