Oliver Rowland believes Red Bull have a ‘special’ 16-year-old in their driver academy and backs the Formula 3 racer to be ‘ready’ for a Formula 1 seat by the 2026 season.
The Red Bull junior team has produced a host of the best drivers the pinnacle of motorsport has seen over recent seasons. Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel are the shining lights of the programme, having won three (to date) and four F1 drivers’ championships for Red Bull.
Christian Klien was the first Red Bull product to break into F1 and has since been followed by Daniel Ricciardo, Daniil Kvyat, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly. Current talent Ayumu Iwasa even made his Grand Prix weekend debut in FP1 at the 2024 Japanese GP with Visa Cash App RB.
Red Bull have a ‘special’ talent in their young driver programme with Arvid Lindblad
Iwasa is only one of the 10 talents Red Bull currently have in their young driver programme, though. Rowland also believes it is another of Red Bull’s recruits from 2021 who could have a future in Formula 1, having sung the praises of Arvid Lindblad – who is racing in Formula 3.
Rowland mentors Lindblad after first meeting through the Nissan Formula E driver’s karting team when the Red Bull prospect was aged seven. He has since helped the 16-year-old rise the ranks and join F1’s support bill. Lindblad drives for Prema and is fifth in the F3 standings.
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Lindblad immediately impressed Rowland with his speed and karting skills over a decorated career. The Briton sealed his first titles in the IAME Cadet class of the LGM Series and British Kart Championship in 2018. But Lindblad impressed Rowland with how he took in his advice.
“I turned up and immediately it was clear,” Rowland told GPBlog. “Like, ‘Wow, he’s fast and he’s got the basics’. You tell him something for a seven-year-old, he was like a sponge. I said, go and do this, he went out and did it. And I remember thinking, he’s a little bit different.
“I hadn’t worked with loads of people at that point. But I realised that at seven, to be able to take the information and perform the way he was, I realised that he was a bit special.”
Oliver Rowland thinks Arvid Lindblad will ‘certainly’ be ready for F1 in 2026
Lindblad signed for the Red Bull driver programme after winning the OKJ class title the WSK Super Master Series in 2020, before sealing OK titles in the 2021 WSK Euro Series and WSK Final Cup. He then moved into single-seaters in 2022 midway through the Italian F4 season.
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Red Bull quickly sought to get Lindblad into cars once eligible after turning 15. He even took third place in the Italian F4 standings in 2023 after winning six of the 21 races. The teenager also won the F4 race at the Macau GP in 2023 from pole position before graduating into F3.
Now, Rowland believes Lindblad is on the right path to be ready for a Formula 1 seat as soon as 2026. He is fifth in the F3 standings after the first two rounds and won the first race at the season-opening Bahrain GP. Lindblad also got P2 in the first race at the Australian GP round.
“We know the pressures of being on the Red Bull programme,” Rowland added. “You don’t have room to not perform. But I think what he’s shown so far is that in every tough moment, he’s come out of the other side, and I think that’s a really strong attribute to have.
“He’s constantly on the back foot. They shifted him straight into Italian F4 at 15. Then, obviously, [he] went straight into Formula 3 at 16. It’s big steps. But I think he’s on the right path to certainly be ready in the next 18 months [or] two years [to break into Formula 1].”
The post ‘Certainly’: Red Bull told they’ve got a ‘special’ F3 driver who’ll be F1 ‘ready’ in 18 months appeared first on F1 Oversteer.