Red Bull F1: What Awaits Lindblad's Racing Future?
Jun.19 - Arvid Lindblad says he has no idea what Red Bull has in mind for his next steps into Formula 1.
As speculation recently swirled about a potential race ban for Max Verstappen, the FIA met to consider Red Bull's request that Lindblad be granted a F1 super license despite the British-Swedish driver still being just 17.
F2 rookie Lindblad, whose talent has been hailed by Dr Helmut Marko, clarifies that Red Bull actually requested the exemption many months ago.
"The super license was requested in February," he is quoted as saying by Dutch magazine Formule 1.
"So I think the timing was purely coincidental. I don't know what the plan would have been if something had happened with Max."
Krone Zeitung newspaper asked Red Bull advisor Marko about the Lindblad case, calling it a "good sign" that the FIA granted the credential.
"Isack Hadjar is proof that our junior program works," said the Austrian.
"Now with Lindblad, we once again have someone in-house who is very strong mentally. We now have two reserve drivers again - until now we only had Ayumu Iwasa, but he also has races in Japan that overlap with the Formula 1 calendar."
The super license now enables Red Bull to give Lindblad on-track experience in current F1 machinery in Friday practice sessions.
"I am very grateful and proud to have the opportunity to participate in Formula 1 sessions," Lindblad said. "Whether that will actually happen, I do not know yet.
"I still have to talk to Red Bull about that. For now I am just happy to have that opportunity at all. Red Bull probably knows more than I do.
"I was never involved in any of these conversations."
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Practice running was already an option since that only requires a practice-only super license, but he'll almost certainly start to race in F1 full-time from next season.
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