Helmut Marko delivers his assessment on Red Bull’s F1 wonderkid

Red Bull prodigy Arvid Lindblad made his F1 debut last weekend at the Silverstone circuit, with Helmut Marko keeping a keen eye on the youngster who rose through the Red Bull Junior Team. The Red Bull advisor has praised Lindblad for his first outing for Red Bull.

Lindblad got his super licence earlier this year and was soon announced to be stepping into the RB21 at the British GP. The British-Swedish driver replaced Yuki Tsunoda for the FP1 session in Silverstone and put in a stellar performance, considering it was his first time participating in an F1 race weekend.

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko is known for scouting talents like Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen and developing young talents into future stars. The Red Bull Junior Team (the team's driver academy) is full of racing talents who are groomed by Marko.

Formula 2 Championship - Round 8 Silverstone - Feature Race - Source: Getty

After Arvid Lindblad’s debut at the British GP, Helmut Marko spoke about the F2 driver's performance. He was impressed by the British-Swedish driver as he wrote in his Speedweek column:

“Formula 2 driver Arvid Lindblad took part in free practice for Red Bull Racing for the first time at Silverstone. In our opinion, the teenager did very well – his speed was good, his comments were insightful, and the technicians are very happy with his performance.”

Lindblad finished the FP1 session at Silverstone as the 14th fastest driver on the timing sheets, with his time being just around half a second slower than Max Verstappen’s. However, the F2 driver was over a second behind the fastest lap set by Lewis Hamilton. Nonetheless, the youngster completed 22 laps during the session with a best time of 1:27.958.

Helmut Marko on Arvid Lindblad's performance in the F1 test after the Silverstone GP

F1 previously mandated each F1 team to give rookie drivers a practice session once in each car, making it two sessions per season. However, to help the rookies, it was increased to four sessions per team (two per car) coming into the 2025 season.

Yet, that is sometimes not enough, and the driver participates in TPC (testing of previous cars), where the rookies are allowed to drive a car, over two years older than the current one, to help with development.

Arvid Lindblad participated in one of these tests at Silverstone after the British GP and completed 100 laps. Speaking about it, Helmut Marko said:

“Lindblad was back in the car the week after the Silverstone GP, completing more than 100 laps and demonstrating excellent physical condition and competitive lap times.”

Arvid Lindblad drives in the F2 championship with Campos Racing and sits 6th in the standings. Given the struggles faced by Yuki Tsunoda and the poor results, Lindblad might have a shot at the Red Bull seat for the 2026 season.

Edited by Hitesh Nigam