How Red Bull management reacted to Arvid Lindblad’s Mexican GP practice ahead of 2026 F1 decision

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The first free practice session during a Formula 1 race weekend doesn’t normally become a big talking point, but Red Bull junior driver Arvid Lindblad changed that at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Each F1 team is required to give up each of their cars twice to rookie drivers during a season, and the Mexico City Grand Prix turned out to be the perfect opportunity for every manufacturer except Sauber.

Nine drivers with very little Formula 1 experience took to the track, with Arvid Lindblad the youngest of the group.

Lindblad was trusted with Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, and many of the new updates were still on the car, meaning that any error or accident would have had a direct impact on his hopes in the drivers’ championship.

It was also interesting that Verstappen’s teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, didn’t have an identical spec on his car despite being the more experienced driver.

The British teenager set the sixth-quickest time during FP1, with Laurent Mekies impressed with Lindblad after his second practice session of the season.

Red Bull’s senior management have now reacted to his outing with a decision on whether to promote him into Formula 1 in 2026, now hanging in the balance.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad including his parents

Arvid Lindblad ‘met all expectations’ during Mexican Grand Prix practice session with Red Bull

A report from Motorsport has looked back on Lindblad’s time in the RB21 in Mexico and his 2025 campaign in general.

Lindblad won the Formula Regional Oceania Championship in New Zealand at the start of the year, earning him enough superlicense points to immediately be allowed to race in Formula 1.

He would have still needed special permission had that call come before he turned 18 in August, but Lindblad’s preparations behind the scenes have been vigorous alongside his Formula 2 campaign.

The report from Motorsport suggests that Lindblad ‘met all expectations’ of Red Bull’s senior leadership team with his run in Mexico.

Team principal Laurent Mekies said after the session: “I think he did a great job. It’s so difficult to step up in FP1.

“It’s very different these days, as you don’t have many tyres and you don’t have many laps. But he did a very good job.

“You have seen all the timesheets by yourself, but he was very calm and gave all the right feedback. He didn’t put a foot wrong, and he didn’t break the car!

“So, honestly, he has impressed us on that FP1. No question about that. And we look forward to the next time [of having him] in the car towards the end of the year.”

Tsunoda still hasn’t given his car up twice yet this season, meaning Lindblad is likely to replace him in Abu Dhabi for FP1 at the final race of the year.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Red Bull Racing from engine to Ford links

How Red Bull are viewing Arvid Lindblad’s maiden Formula 2 campaign

It’s believed that Lindblad’s move to Racing Bulls is ‘almost sealed’, although with Red Bull, nothing can be ruled out until official confirmation arrives.

Lindblad became the youngest winner in Formula 2 when he took victory in the Sprint Race in Jeddah, before earning his first Feature Race win at the Circuit de Catalunya.

At the end of that weekend, Lindblad was only eight points behind Red Bull-linked Alex Dunne at the top of the championship.

However, a few mistakes have started to creep into the 18-year-old’s campaign, and with two rounds remaining, he’s out of championship contention.

That would mean Lindblad would be allowed to spend an extra year at that level if Red Bull wanted him to.

However, Red Bull are not ‘primarily judging’ him on his F2 campaign, believing that the difference in engines between drivers makes it difficult to gauge just how quick someone is.

They’ve so far placed ‘greater weight’ on his Formula 1 involvements, which have been described as ‘satisfactory’ thus far.