While Europe's motorsport scene is still hibernating, Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad has taken an important next step on his path towards a Formula 1 career.
With Red Bull moving on from veterans Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez in 2025, the brand's junior programme has recently delivered its latest batch of F1 graduates.
Liam Lawson did enough over two short Racing Bulls stints to earn a regular seat at the main Red Bull squad, while 2024 Formula 2 runner-up Isack Hadjar fills his RB seat alongside Yuki Tsunoda.
Red Bull has always been more comfortable with a strong reserve line-up which is not only ready to step in at short notice but also promising enough to put pressure on the organisation's four full-time drivers to deliver, with Lawson dislodging Ricciardo at RB last year a prime example.
In theory the next youngster in line would have been Ayumu Iwasa, who has taken part in two FP1 sessions as well as Abu Dhabi testing last year. But given the Japanese's Honda links and the manufacturer departing for Aston Martin next year, Red Bull could do with another ready-made alternative to bolster its ranks.
And with some parallels to Mercedes fast-tracking Andrea Kimi Antonelli through the single-seater ladder to be ready in time to replace Ferrari hire Lewis Hamilton, Lindblad is now set to get the same treatment as Red Bull prepares for a Honda-less future, which could also mean Tsunoda will move on after five years at the sister team without earning Red Bull promotion.
The British-born 17-year-old, who also holds the Swedish nationality through his father and whose mother is of Indian descent, has been turning heads in New Zealand as he dominated the Formula Regional Oceania championship, which used to be known as the Toyota Racing Series.
Fittingly, the New Zealand-based championship is also where Red Bull's Helmut Marko discovered Lawson, right when the New Zealander's F1 dream was on the brink of collapsing. Ahead of moving up from F3 to F2, Lindblad was next in a long line of Red Bull juniors to race overseas over the past few weeks.
His main objective was to at least finish in the top three and secure enough points for a coveted FIA superlicence, which is a crucial step towards a F1 future with the organisation and would allow him to debut in F1 after he turns 18 in August.
That mission has been a resounding success as the youngster blitzed the championship. As part of a haul of six wins and six poles, Lindblad picked up four out of five feature race wins, finishing third in the fifth, the New Zealand Grand Prix season finale.
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One factor muddying the waters is the difficulty of measuring the level of competition, which tends to vary year by year as local prospects square off against generally well-funded overseas talents. Mitch Evans, Nick Cassidy and Lawson, who used the series as a springboard to an international career, feature on the roll of honour, while other series champions include Lando Norris, Lance Stroll as well as former Ferrari reserve and 2025 IndyCar rookie Robert Shwartzman.
Lindblad, a finalist of the 2024 Silverstone Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award, clinched the title with two races to spare ahead of New Zealand prospect Zack Scoular and American USF Pro 2000 runner-up Nikita Johnson, a 16-year-old who also picked up race wins in Britain's GB3 series last year. And he also competed against the more experienced Australian Supercars champion Will Brown, who topped off three weekend appearances by winning Sunday's grand prix at Highlands Motorsport Park, ahead of Scoular and Lindblad.
Toyota's series manager Caillol called Lindblad one of the best performers he has seen come through the series: "He is an exceptional talent, one of the finest we’ve seen in New Zealand over the seasons and of course, we’ve had some of the world’s best race in this championship over the past 20 seasons.
"This is also a strong field, with a number of drivers who have the potential to make it to F1, IndyCar and other leading categories. It’s probably our best field since 2020 and that really just emphasises how good Arvid is performing. We are certainly watching a future star."
Beyond the PR-friendly statement, it certainly looks as though Red Bull feels the same way. From 2025 F1 teams are required to field rookies in four FP1 sessions per team, up from two. While RB debutant Hadjar will take care of two of those appearances by default, Lindblad now looks set to be one beneficiary of the rule change and fulfil seat time for both RB and Red Bull's main team, alongside any private testing that may come his way.
That was always going to happen regardless of Lindblad's New Zealand excursion. But having now obtained the final missing piece of the puzzle – a superlicence regardless of his 2025 F2 results – he can now be brought into the F1 team's orbit without reservations if he continues developing the way Red Bull is expecting.
Having made his F1 driving debut in a Red Bull show run on the streets of Houston last September, in a venerable RB8 from 2012, Red Bull's next single-seater hope is now on course to be fast-tracked for a potential 2026 debut.
