Racing Bulls deliver their private Arvid Lindblad test verdict ahead of 2026 Formula 1 debut

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Arvid Lindblad faces the unenviable but exciting task of being the only rookie on the grid at the start of the 2026 Formula 1 season.

Racing Bulls decided to promote Arvid Lindblad from Formula 2 at the end of this year, and next season, he’ll be racing alongside Liam Lawson.

Lawson narrowly edged out Yuki Tsunoda for the second seat at Alan Permane’s team, with Helmut Marko convinced Lindblad was ready for F1 despite an up-and-down campaign in F2.

The British teenager will need to get up to speed quickly, considering all the other 21 drivers he’s up against next year have at least one full campaign of Formula 1 experience.

The post-season test after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was the perfect opportunity to do so, and now, journalist Scott Mitchell-Malm has shared how the team privately reacted to his outing in the VCARB 02.

READ MORE: Who is 2026 Racing Bulls driver Arvid Lindblad? Everything you need to know

Racing Bulls ‘quite happy’ with Arvid Lindblad’s post-season test ahead of 2026 F1 debut

Lindblad took part in the young driver portion of Tuesday’s test, with Lawson driving a mule car designed to collect data ahead of next season’s rule changes.

The 18-year-old completed 139 laps and was 14 thousandths of a second slower than his teammate at the end of the day.

Mitchell-Malm was speaking about Lindblad on The Race F1 Podcast and said: “He was driving for Racing Bulls, Isack Hadjar was driving for Red Bull.

“So, that left it nice and open, I think, because Ayumu Iwasa was driving the Red Bull in the young driver test.

“So then Racing Bulls was able to put Liam Lawson in their mule car, and then Lindblad, obviously, because he hasn’t started more than two Grand Prix, was able to drive that.

“So that was good, nice little head start for him.

“He did have a problem, I’m not sure exactly what it was, but he lost a bit of mileage.

“But Racing Bulls seemed quite happy with the initial integration. He’s obviously not new to the Red Bull family. So he’ll have had plenty of time to do a little bit of work in advance of this. It won’t have been completely new to him.”

READ MORE: All to know about Racing Bulls from team principal to Red Bull affiliation

Arvid Lindblad hails ‘productive day’ with Racing Bulls during post-season F1 test

Lindblad has completed a rigorous private testing schedule outside of his Formula 2 duties and will have Tsunoda to call upon for advice as Red Bull’s official reserve driver next year.

Tsunoda might not be happy to have lost his seat, but he will recognise the same role that Alex Albon played in his development at the start of his F1 career in 2021.

Going into the season, Lindblad isn’t aiming to beat Lawson, but will know that’s exactly how to catch Laurent Mekies’ attention if Hadjar’s promotion doesn’t go to plan.

He won’t have Helmut Marko putting pressure on him after his Red Bull exit, but it’s yet to be seen whether that will soften the team’s stance on their young drivers.

Lindblad spoke to the media after his mammoth stint in the car in Abu Dhabi and said: “It was a great day here in Abu Dhabi and a nice way to start my journey in VCARB.

“It was a good day of testing, completing a lot of laps as we went through the whole programme. There are several things we need to get up to speed with together, including procedures that we’ve been working on, but overall, it was a productive day.

“It was very beneficial to have done this day of testing ahead of the 2026 season, as it allowed us to put the basic foundations in place. I’m very much looking forward to next year, and I can’t wait to get started.”