Arvid Lindblad Lauded by Star F1 Veteran After Impressive Australian Grand Prix

The 18-year-old has made the step up from Formula 2 to Formula 1 look somewhat easy.

Arvid Lindblad | IMAGO / ABACAPRESS

When the teenager Arvid Lindblad was interviewed after the Australian Grand Prix, he stated he was 'not going to roll over' for more experienced racers and that he was a 'ruthless competitor'.

Having finished eighth in his Racing Bulls car in his first ever F1 race, the youngster earned heaps of praise from both fans and people involved in the community, made more impressive by the fact that he has risen so quickly up the ranks of junior formulae.

This meant that the youngster was one of the main talking points after the race, and one racing veteran was keen to give Lindblad the credit he deserved after an impressive four-point haul.

Arvid Lindblad put on a 'top class' performance according to Jolyon Palmer

With Lindblad only 18 and Liam Lawson aged 24, the average age of the VCARB duo is an astonishingly young 21 years of age. | Kimberly P. Mitchell / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It might have been somewhat of a controversial decision to offer Arvid Lindblad the available Racing Bulls seat instead of giving it back to the much more experienced Yuki Tsonuda, but that decision seems to be paying dividends so far.

Lindblad finished sixth in the Formula 2 Championship last season, but was the standout driver contracted to the Red Bull Academy, as well as the fact the Briton outclassed drivers a few years older than him in the competition.

Tsunoda was contracted to Racing Bulls at the start of the 2025 season, but his promotion to Red Bull two races in, in place of Lindblad's now-teammate Liam Lawson, went about as badly as possible.

Yuki Tsunoda only picked up 30 points in his tenure as a Red Bull driver. | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Ex-F1 driver Jolyon Palmer, who raced for Renault in the mid-2010s and had a brilliant junior career, was full of compliments when talking about Lindblad on the podcast F1 Nation.

"[His Australian Grand Prix performance] was one of the great rookie displays from Lindblad. All weekend he's been top class... you would never guess that he's a rookie. All the experienced stuff he did really well."

Palmer on Lindblad

Fellow podcast guest, Australian motorsport personality Richard Craill, also supported Palmer's view, saying that the Red Bull junior driver must be going around the paddock like an 'absolute ledge', and that the overall showing was 'a real exclamation point performance'.

"He must be walking around this paddock, shoulders back like an absolute ledge.
It was a real exclamation point performance. [It was like he was saying] yeah, I'm here, I'm in F1, watch out for me moving forward, let the driving do the talking.”

Craill on Lindblad

With the next race in China, Racing Bull's newest hotshot will certainly be one to watch heading into the race, especially if he can get the better of Liam Lawson once again, with the Kiwi having finished 13th at Albert Park.