Red Bull’s young gun Arvid Lindblad impressed team bosses with a standout performance in Friday’s first practice session for the Mexico City Grand Prix, earning praise from Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko for what he called a “solid job.”
The 20-year-old Brit, a rising star from the Milton Keynes-based squad’s junior programme, was behind the wheel of Max Verstappen’s car in FP1, marking his second Formula 1 weekend after running in free practice at Silverstone in July.
Despite the pressure of filling in for the reigning World Champion, Lindblad adapted seamlessly to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, which is notorious for its tricky corners and demanding layout. Marko was clearly impressed with the teenager’s calm and methodical approach.
“He did a solid job,” the Austrian told Motorsport.com. “I mean it was a difficult situation for him, everybody told him don’t do anything wrong, don’t crash, don’t make a scratch on the car, but he still delivered.
“He was by far the fastest rookie and his technical feedback was also very impressive.”
Lindblad ended the session sixth overall, outpacing teammate Yuki Tsunoda on the timesheets. Marko, however, was quick to clarify that the Japanese driver was on a longer, race-style run, while Lindblad’s plan differed.
“Yuki did a long run, he [Lindblad] didn’t, but at some stages they were on the same sort of run plan,” said Marko, who noted how Lindblad’s maturity and calm demeanor set him apart.
“It was very clear and he never got excited, he was calm, and the technical feedback had profound influence. It was a very, how should I say, exact definition,” he explained.
Handling Verstappen’s Car With Finesse
Adding to the challenge, Lindblad was at the wheel of Verstappen’s car, which included a revised floor for the weekend. Red Bull Team Principal Laurent Mekies highlighted the difficulty of the task but was thrilled with the rookie’s adaptation.
“We took the decision to leave Arvid on rather low-ish fuel,” Mekies said. “Just not to give him the complications of low-high-low as we normally all do in FP1. But he did a very, very good job.
“It’s so difficult to jump in [to the car] in the context [of driving Verstappen’s car with new components installed]. He did a very good job, and as you can see the pace is there, so not much to argue against.”
With FP1 complete, Lindblad has already made a strong impression on Red Bull’s top brass, which bodes well for the young gun’s chances of graduating to motorsport’s elite in 2026.
Read also: Verstappen concerned by RB21's ‘pretty bad’ race pace in Mexico
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