‘Very interesting’ 16-year-old Helmut Marko admires could be Red Bull’s version of Kimi Antonelli – opinion

Every team on the Formula 1 grid is searching for the next great driver coming through the ranks.

It’s becoming more and more common to see F1 liveries in junior series and Formula 2 and Formula 3 are full of Red Bull-styled cars.

There’s one driver in particular that Helmut Marko has praised in the past – via GPBlog – that appears to have a huge future ahead of him.

Red Bull have unearthed some of the best drivers of modern times recently, with Max Verstappen being the best example.

Their decision to pick up Sebastian Vettel after he was released from BMW was also a masterstroke.

However, with all the hype surrounding Mercedes junior Andrea Kimi Antonelli right now, 16-year-old Arvid Lindblad could be the youngster to watch over the next few years.

He’s still got some way to go before reaching F1 and the Red Bull Junior Team is incredibly competitive.

But he’s doing the right things at the start of his Formula 3 career to deserve some attention.

Red Bull might have their own Kimi Antonelli in Advid Lindblad

The 16-year-old driver is part of one of the most prolific academies in motor racing.

It helps that two out of the ten teams on the grid are associated with Red Bull, but plenty of other active drivers can trace the start of their careers to their Junior Team.

Pierre Gasly, Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon were all handed their F1 debuts in a Toro Rosso.

Liam Lawson is the next driver in line for promotion onto the grid after his brilliant cameo in 2023.

That could come sooner rather than later given Daniel Ricciardo’s current struggles.

However, after him, Arvid Lindblad might be Red Bull’s next big hope and given his age, could potentially have a career competing with Kimi Antonelli.

The young Italian is being considered as an option to replace the great Lewis Hamilton for 2025.

While Lindblad isn’t that close to the grid, he’s heading in the right direction are a lost generation of Red Bull talents.

Arvid Lindblad and Helmut Marko already working together

Speaking to Autosport about being signed by Red Bull, Lindblad said: “Even now I still don’t know 100% the ins and outs of it.

“Helmut [Marko] is in charge of the cars side and he’s very close with Jos Verstappen, who looks more at the karting. There were quite a few people in the paddock who Jos would talk to, asking, ‘Is there anyone good coming through?’

“My engine builder at the time I had a really good relationship with, and he also had a good relationship with Jos, because he did Max’s engines in karting.

“Jos asked around the paddock and I guess my name was mentioned a few times, and he passed it on to Helmut and it went like that.”

At the end of 2023, Marko gave his thoughts on the teenager and said: “We have (Arvid) Lindblad. He’s also very interesting. His father is Swedish, his mother is Indian originally. He’s leading the Italian F4, which is the strongest [series at that level].”

Who is Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad?

Honours:

Arvid Lindblad already showing his skill in Formula 3

After finishing 3 in his first full season of Italian Formula 4, Red Bull decided to move Lindblad straight into Formula 3 – whereas Mercedes decided they wanted to skip that step and provided Antonelli with a Formula 2 seat.

Both drivers are part of the PREMA team who have a brilliant reputation for producing the finest young drivers.

Lindblad is the youngest racer in F3 this season and he’s competing against drivers who are six or seven years older than him.

That didn’t stop him from producing a fine drive in the Sprint Race on his F3 debut in Bahrain where he pulled off several brilliant overtaking moves to take the victory.

He finished second to Martinius Stenshorne in the Sprint Race in Melbourne and narrowly missed out on points in the Feature Race.

Liam Lawson looks set to end the wait for a Red Bull junior to make the step up to Formula 1 very soon.

Ayumu Iwasa will test for Red Bull in FP1 in Suzuka as he makes his bid to show that he’s ready to join the paddock.

Isack Hadjar – who impressed in practice for AlphaTauri in Mexico City last year – and Pepe Marti are Red Bull representatives in Formula 2 this season.

But right now, Lindblad looks like the real talent to watch out for within the Red Bull group and if he earns a spot in F2 next year, then we might get an early glimpse of his battle against Antonelli.

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