Why this Red Bull supertalent is seen as the new Max Verstappen

“He's [Lindblad] is a perfect candidate to replace Tsunoda if he continues to struggle. Is there someone out there who could be better than Verstappen? Yes. Could it be Lindblad?" Johnny Herbert recently said in an interview with a betting site. Indeed, there are reasons to believe Lindblad has the potential to become a great F1 driver.

Lindblad made his Formula 3 debut in 2024 and his Formula 2 debut in 2025. In both championships, Lindblad was not only a ‘rookie,’ but also immediately the youngest participant in the championship. An achievement in itself, but Lindblad did much more than just participate.

In his first Formula 3 season, Lindblad impressed by winning the season's first race in Bahrain. After that victory in the sprint race, he also won his first main race in Barcelona. A week later, Lindblad caused a huge stir by winning both the sprint race and the main race at Silverstone, in front of his home crowd.

After finishing fourth in the F3 championship, Lindblad was immediately promoted to Formula 2. There, too, Lindblad wasted no time. He won, as the youngest driver ever, the sprint race in Saudi Arabia, and then won his first main race in Spain. Lindblad is third in the championship, just eight points behind leader Alex Dunne.

For Red Bull, it’s been a while since a driver flawlessly went through the academy. After Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly, Brendon Hartley, Alexander Albon, Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson, and Isack Hadjar all made their way to Formula 1 via detours.

Gasly was still considered too inexperienced for Formula 1 in 2017 and had to spend another year in Super Formula at the behest of Helmut Marko. Alexander Albon was kicked out of the Red Bull Junior Team, only to be called up at the last minute in 2018. Yuki Tsunoda was a ‘gift’ from Honda to Red Bull, Liam Lawson was not considered good enough for a seat at Racing Bulls for years, and there were significant doubts about Isack Hadjar.

In this respect, Arvid Lindblad is the first driver since Max Verstappen who is indisputable. Helmut Marko has mentioned Lindblad several times over the past years. According to Marko, Lindblad was even better than Isack Hadjar, even though Hadjar had just been promoted. It says a lot about the team’s confidence in the young Brit.

Max Verstappen has often stated that he had the wrong passport for Formula 1. Lindblad is better off in this regard. Arvid has a Swedish father and a mother born in India. Lindblad was born in Surrey, England, and therefore races under the British nationality.

Whether it’s a British advantage or not. It certainly helps that many of the journalists in Formula 1 are British. As are many of the teams and personnel in Formula 1 from England. Racing under the British nationality always lends a hand in the extent to which you’re hyped. The same was true for Lando Norris and George Russell.

However, Red Bull is still cautious with Lindblad. They have applied for an early superlicense from the FIA and received it. This allows Lindblad to participate in official Formula 1 sessions. Lindblad will likely get a free practice session from Red Bull in the coming period, possibly in his home country at Silverstone.

Red Bull's cautious stance is understandable. Lindblad has shown many spectacular things, but he has yet to win a serious championship. Only the Macau Formula 4 race and the Formula Regional Oceania championship are to his name. Thus, consistently performing throughout an entire season is a step he still needs to take this season in Formula 2.