It’s no surprise that the rest of the Formula 1 paddock was waiting for Red Bull to make their final driver decisions to complete the grid for this year.
Red Bull finished the 2024 season in third in the Constructors’ Championship despite Max Verstappen comfortably winning his fourth title.
Sergio Perez’s underperformance saw him lose his seat despite signing a contract extension only six months before.
Team principal Christian Horner and chief advisor Helmut Marko faced a dilemma on who to promote from the Racing Bulls setup.
Yuki Tsunoda impressed in a post-season Red Bull test, but the team ultimately opted for his less experienced teammate Liam Lawson instead.
This opened up a spot in the newly-named Racing Bulls team that Isack Hadjar was promoted into.
Hadjar finished runner-up in the Formula 2 championship to Gabriel Bortoleto, suffered a heartbreaking mechanical error at the season finale in Abu Dhabi that denied him the chance to challenge the Brazilian for the title.
Red Bull weren’t fully convinced by Hadjar’s previous F1 runs, but have given him the chance to prove himself alongside Tsunoda in 2025.
He will have to work hard to prove himself, as Red Bull have another youngster in their ranks that they’re very excited about: Arvid Lindblad.
Marko has pushed Lindblad to race in the Formula Regional Oceania Championship ahead of his maiden F2 campaign and judging by the young Brit’s most recent comments, Red Bull might be planning on calling on him sooner than Hadjar would like.
Arvid Lindblad aiming to have FIA full superlicense before the 2025 Formula 1 season
Lindblad was asked by the Next Gen NZ Championship Instagram account how he ended up racing in New Zealand this winter and said: “I was talking with Helmut in Abu Dhabi and in a simple way, he wants me to have the full superlicense for the start of the F1 season.
“It was kind of between here or the UAE and we decided that this was the best championship to come to.”
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Lindblad was then asked about his aims to reach F1 and continued: “I’ve always been very determined since when I was five when I started this journey.
“I wanted to be in Formula 1 and I wanted to be a world champion.
“Everything I do I want to be the best at so I had that same belief when I was five, when I was 14 as well when that moment [with Lando Norris] was caught and still now.
“So, I’m sticking to the timeline quite well, I’m determined to make sure that I do stick to the timeline, so I’m hoping to be in Formula 1 next year.”
Red Bull already very excited about Arvid Lindblad after impressive debut F3 campaign
The conveyor belt of talent that Red Bull has produced has handed Hadjar his chance in Formula 1 but could just as quickly take it away.
Horner is extremely excited about Lindblad and after challenging for the Formula 3 title despite being the youngest driver in the field, he’ll have a similar aim for his F2 campaign this year.
Marko has earmarked Lindblad as a future champion and it’s not a surprise that he’s already preparing him for Formula 1.
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Red Bull will hope that their current quartet of racers is fast enough to achieve their goals in 2025.
However, they will also know that Lindblad could be the perfect replacement for Tsunoda if he moves on at the end of the year when Red Bull’s partnership with Honda ends.
That may be why Lindblad is aiming for an F1 race seat in 2026, but the fact Marko wants his FIA superlicense ready before this season begins suggests that he may know he needs to call on the teenager if Hadjar doesn’t make the grade.
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