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Arvid Lindblad commendably set a faster time than Racing Bulls teammate Liam Lawson in the final pre-season test in Bahrain.
Lindblad, 18, is the only rookie on the 2026 grid and forms an intriguing partnership with Lawson, finally set for his first full season in Racing Bulls colours.
The Formula 3 graduate notched 240 laps across the last three days of testing – more than any other driver. That’s a testament to the reliability of the brand-new Red Bull power unit, but also shows Lindblad’s awareness of how much he has to learn.
Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Linblad completed the most laps at the second Bahrain test!
Which driver has impressed you the most during pre-season? Let us know!
F1’s most experienced driver Fernando Alonso says he wouldn’t want to be a rookie entering the sport this year given the complexity of the new regulations, above all the energy-management procedures.
Arvid Lindblad four-tenths quicker than Liam Lawson in combined F1 testing times
A look at the combined leaderboard across all three days shows that Lindblad set the 13th fastest time – a 1:34.149.
Lawson comes in four places lower with a 1:34.532, just under four-tenths down on his new teammate.
It’s worth noting that Lindblad set his time on day three when the track was theoretically at its best and teams were putting more emphasis on single-lap pace. Lawson’s best effort came 24 hours earlier.
What is Liam Lawson’s CEILING in Formula 1?
Kimi Antonelli beat George Russell by a similar margin at Mercedes but still enters the season as the clear underdog in the intra-team battle, so these lap times aren’t always a reliable guide.
Still, Lindblad has impressed experts already and looks ready to threaten Lawson this year, even if he might be a little behind at first.
Liam Lawson strikes back against Arvid Lindblad in Racing Bulls long runs
The race simulations are arguably a more accurate indicator of a driver’s performance at this stage, given that there’s less of an incentive to sandbag.
The Race have crunched the numbers and found that Lawson had an advantage in this area, outpacing Lindblad by 10 seconds over a hypothetical Grand Prix.
Lindblad says his target is to beat Lawson this year, and he won’t be overly concerned by the current high-fuel deficit. Of course, these lap times don’t necessarily take into account race-craft, with drivers able to circulate in isolation.
Ted Kravitz predicted after the first Bahrain test that Racing Bulls were the best of the rest behind the top four, and the consensus is that they remain in that bracket heading to Melbourne.
If that’s true, there could be immediate points-scoring opportunities for both drivers.
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