Arvid Lindblad has revealed progress of his and Racing Bull’s Barcelona shakedown test as the Briton prepares for his maiden Formula 1 season. .
Lindblad was back in action in Barcelona on Thursday, taking the wheel of the new V CARB 03 in Barcelona as Racing Bulls continue to add mileage to their 2026 challenger.
The Briton faces an uphill challenge to master F1’s new regulations, including using Red Bull’s new engine collaboration with Ford.
His first day proved productive, putting in 40 laps despite stopping on track for a minor technical issue that brought out the red flag.
In action again on on Thursday, Lindblad confirmed the team is still learning, and not focusing on performance of its new car.
“It was good,” he said.
“It was a good day, only half day today. But no, it was good.It wasn’t the smoothest, but overall we went through the programme, we did some good testing, we’ve learned a lot about the car as well.
“So thankful for the team for this test and now just looking forward to obviously doing some work before Bahrain in the sim and then getting back on track in a couple of weeks.”
Racing Bulls and Arvid Lindblad analysing data
Confirming he and team are roughly where they expected to be in terms of car data, with mileage taking priority, revealing the team is revelling in the new rules cycle.
“I mean with mileage and stuff, I think it was better than we were expecting,” he admitted.
“I think it was always an unknown with the new power unit.
“You know, obviously 2014 was the last time there was a new power unit or new engine regulations and it was very difficult for the whole grid.
“So I mean, massive credit to everyone at VCARB and RBPT and Ford because it’s gone very well. We’ve run very smoothly and on the side of mileage and data gathering, it’s been more than we expected.
“So yeah, I think that’s really positive.”
Lindblad also revealed he has begun to form a working relationship with new team-mate Liam Lawson, but hinted it remained at the pleasantries phase, instead prioritising integrating into the team.
“Yeah, it’s okay. I mean, Liam’s a nice guy.
“I’ve known him a little bit from the junior team.Obviously, we didn’t spend loads of time together, but we crossed paths slightly there, and he’s been friendly and stuff.”
“I think now it’s about working hard with the team over the next week or so.
“Obviously, they’re going to be doing a lot of work to look through the data, understand what we’ve learnt.
“But yeah, just try to sort of help correlate and finalise the direction going forward to Bahrain.”
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