Many things I learned this year may not translate to Formula 1 · RaceFans

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Arvid Lindblad expects many of the lessons he learned in Formula 2 this year won’t necessarily help him as he makes the step up to Formula 1.

The Racing Bulls driver is stepping up after spending a single season in Formula 2, where he finished sixth in the championship.

Lindblad has already driven Racing Bulls and Red Bull F1 cars on several occasions and says the approach to driving in F2 is very different.

“F2 is so unique,” he told Autocar. “Yes, it’s the penultimate rung on the ladder on the route to Formula 1, but it’s so different.

“A lot of the things that I’ve had to learn this year in F2, I don’t know if they’re all translatable to F1.”

The Red Bull junior driver has moved up through the feeder series quickly, spending a single season in Formula 3 last year and winning the Formula Regional Oceania series before moving into F2. He said his driving ability is not the most important skill he’s developed in that time.

“I’ve learnt a lot about myself on and off-track. Working with the team and stuff, I’ve had to learn about that a lot, which is going to be an even more important thing in F1.

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“On the driving side, it’s hard to pick one [lesson] because I’ve come through the ranks so quickly that it feels like on all sides I have had to step up and adapt and learn incredibly quickly. It’s hard for me to just say one thing that I really learned through F2 because it felt like on all sides I had to learn a lot, which I think will be the same in F1.

“I think the biggest thing is just the ability to be able to manage other things whilst driving, which obviously was more important in F2 as the strategy becomes a bigger thing. The tyres are a bit more complicated, which I think in the new F1 next year, with the new power unit will also be a bigger thing. So I think if I was going to say one learning thing, that would be the biggest thing.”

Lindblad will be the only rookie on the grid at the start of the 2026 F1 season, which will also see a major overhaul of F1’s technical regulations. He suspects the timing of that change will help him become competitive in F1.

“I wouldn’t say it’s an advantage, I think maybe it’s less of a disadvantage,” he explained. “But I don’t really think about it because it’s not really something I can control.

“It’s going to be a big challenge for everyone and I’ve got a lot to learn. It’s going to be a very different Formula 1 next year. So I’m just focused on working hard with the team over the winter, preparing for next year, utilising the test as much as I can, and then we’ll see.”

He will make his F1 debut exactly when he told future champion Lando Norris he would five years ago. Lindblad said he was inspired to approach the McLaren driver by the example of Lewis Hamilton, who told former McLaren team principal Ron Dennis he wanted to drive for his team.

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“I remember Lando came to the [kart] track in 2021, he was launching his own chassis and he came to one of the races. I remember I saw him in the paddock and I was with my friend and I said, I wanted to go up to Lando. He was like, no, you’re not brave enough, you haven’t got the balls, that kind of thing, and I just wanted to prove him wrong.

“So I went up to Lando and the first thing that came out was just ‘remember me, I’ll see you in five years’. I got a bit of inspiration from the Lewis Hamilton-Ron Dennis story when he told him he’d drive one of his cars one day.

“I wouldn’t say I’d calculated it, but I knew what was within reach at that point and how fast I could come through the ranks if I performed well and everything went to plan. I knew that 2026 was the earliest feasible time. So I’m obviously very happy that it’s come true.

“When I started this journey when I was five I was extremely determined to get to Formula 1. I had that same sort of determination and belief when I was 14 on that day and I have that same determination now. So obviously I’m very happy that I’ve stuck to the timeline and it’s a funny little story now.”