Arvid Lindblad has begun his Formula 1 career in a near-scintillating fashion, no-one has been more impressed than his mentor, Formula E World Champion Oliver Rowland.
The teenager’s career kick-started in the best way possible, with a top 10 qualifying performance in Melbourne, backing it up with eighth place to secure points on his debut.
Lindblad was in the thick of the action early on, going wheel-to-wheel with Lewis Hamilton in the opening lap, followed by irking Max Verstappen for allegedly ‘brake-checking’ him in the pitlane.
The British-Swede narrowly missed out on another points-scoring result in Shanghai with 12th place, and lines up for this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix 10th on the grid, outqualifying Racing Bulls teammate Liam Lawson.
Reigning FE champ Rowland has been Lindblad’s long-term mentor and has been with him every step of the way so far this season, and is once again trackside for his first taste of Suzuka.
At last week’s Madrid E-Prix, Rowland was overjoyed with his protege’s performance in Melbourne, indicating to Motorsport Week that he had exceeded all expectations.
“Obviously amazing,” he said. “Couldn’t have wished for a much better start from Arvid. So, yeah, it was very enjoyable and a great way to start.”
Oliver Rowland advises Arvid Lindblad to ‘keep his feet on the ground’
Lindblad’s rise has been sensational. After winning races in Formula 3 in 2024, progression to Formula 2 followed, with more wins and FP1 appearances for Red Bull coming next.
Perhaps many might question the rapidity of his promotion to the Faenza-based squad’s F1 ranks but is so far meeting the task with speed and maturity.
Ahead of the previous Formula E weekend in Jeddah, amid F1’s pre-season testing programme in Bahrain, Rowland exclusively told Motorsport Week that his obvious talent is why he is devoting plenty of his free time to Lindblad’s progression.
“I wouldn’t spend so much of my time with him if I didn’t think the same,” he said when asked about fellow FE champion Antonio Felix da Costa’s assessment that Lindblad is “the real deal”.
“Yeah, he needs to keep his feet on the ground, however. Stay humble, but I agree,” he said.
Lindblad’s maiden season comes at the time F1 segues into a new regulations era, ironically one that Rowland’s acquaintance Verstappen described as being like “Formula E on steroids”.
It could be said that Lindblad’s debut is therefore timed to perfection as it is a new challenge for all the drivers, but Rowland exercised caution as the more experienced drivers have build up a “capacity” to adapt.
“I mean, obviously, coming into a new regulation is a positive because nobody has experience with the car,” he said. “But at the same time, I feel like the drivers this year are going to need a lot of capacity to manage a lot of new things. And when you’re 18 years old and a rookie, the capacity is something that builds over time.
“So I would say it’s no easier than it’s been. It’s still going to be tough.”
So far, Rowland must be enormously excited by Lindblad’s start, and with good reason. There is a long way to go for the youngster to improve further and there will no doubt be bumps in the road.
But with a level of maturity already impressive and an apparent unwillingness to be fazed by anyone, there is a starting point that many great drivers did not show this early on.
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