Red Bull seeks exemption for Lindblad

Red Bull is understood to be seeking an exemption for 17-year-old Arvid Lindblad to be granted a Superlicence in order that he can take part in a Friday practice session.

The Anglo-Swede turns 18 on 8 August, almost a week after the Hungarian Grand Prix that precedes the summer break.

While he has the necessary points to qualify for a Superlicence the rules state that a driver must be 18 in order to qualify. Ironically, the rule was introduced after Max Verstappen made his debut with Toro Rosso in 2015.

Last year, Mercedes successfully applied for a similar exemption on behalf on Kimi Antonelli.

In his rookie year in F2, Lindblad, who won the 2023 Macau F4 race, sits third in the standings courtesy of his Sprint win in Jeddah and feature race victory last weekend in Spain. Winner of this year’s Regional Oceania Championship, Lindblad finished fourth in last year’s F3 championship courtesy of four victories.

While it might be claimed that Red Bull is making the move with an eye on Max Verstappen’s perilous penalty points predicament, Helmut Marko has said that the application was made to the FIA before the Barcelona weekend.

Even if the request is denied, Lindblad would automatically qualify for his superlicence during the summer break and therefore be free to make his FP1 debut from the Netherlands onwards.

The application will be reviewed at next week’s meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Macau.