Arvid Lindblad's first season in Formula 1 began the way every rookie's does — with a phone call. In his case, it came in Qatar week, in the company of the person who first put him in a kart.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1's Ted Kravitz on a cultural tour through Delhi, the Red Bull-backed rookie revisited the moment he learned his 2026 F1 seat was confirmed.
"I found out in the week of Qatar about the news that I would be on the grid this year in F1. I was with my dad at the time and obviously that was very special because it's something that me and him did together," Lindblad said. "So to share that moment with him was obviously something very special. We called my mom immediately afterwards as well because it's something we've all done together and had to sacrifice for. So that was a very, very special moment for sure."
What makes the family detail land harder is who he points to as the driver who shaped his ambition in the first place. Lindblad — the first British-Indian-Swedish driver to make the F1 grid — was unambiguous about who he watched growing up.
"I'd say growing up, Lewis was the one I sort of looked up to the most," Lindblad told Sky Sports F1. "I felt a connection to him in the sense that he was the only one of colour. His rookie year was the year I was born. Obviously, he was doing very well at the time when I was getting into the sport."
It's a quietly significant line — a 19-year-old rookie naming Lewis Hamilton not as a benchmark to topple but as the figure who made the path feel reachable.
"The challenges and the skills required this year in F1 will be different to previous years," he said. "Just because obviously the cars are different but mostly I think the PU. That's a big thing for me. When you come from F2 to F1, it's already quite a big step."
He is, however, looking forward to one circuit in particular — the venue that hosts the fourth round in October.
"Suzuka — yeah. So that's one I'm really looking forward to," Lindblad said. "That's a very iconic circuit. I think probably the favourite for almost all the drivers."
The broader strategy, in his telling, is less about chasing podiums and more about creating a moment that registers inside Red Bull's wider driver pyramid. With Yuki Tsunoda's seat now gone and Liam Lawson's status fluctuating, Lindblad knows what the senior team is watching for.
"Every time I get in the car I'm going to do as best as I possibly can," he said. "It's moments like that where you do something a bit different, a bit special, which is what creates opportunities. I think in the Red Bull family, that will be what the main team will be looking at — those moments of doing something a bit different, a bit special."
It is, in essence, the same audition every Red Bull junior has run since the system was built. But Lindblad's version of it begins with a Qatar-week phone call, a father, a mother on the other end of the line, and a rookie quietly carrying Lewis Hamilton's career as the reason he's there at all.
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