Red Bull can call upon another driver if needed from now on, with 17-year-old Arvid Lindblad having been granted his FIA Super Licence.

Lindblad had already secured the necessary number of licence points to earn an FIA Super Licence but, at 17 years old, was too young to be automatically granted the licence required to take part in an F1 weekend.

Arvid Lindblad secures FIA Super Licence

In order to secure an FIA Super Licence, drivers are required to be at least 18 years old and to have secured the necessary 40 licence points over the course of the last three seasons – these points being accumulated through their championship results.

At 17 years old, Lindblad was simply too young to be granted an FIA Super Licence but, as of last year, the FIA introduced a section under Appendix L of the International Sporting Code, Article 13.1.2., which allows applicants to be granted a licence at 17-years-old provided they have proven their abilities, ie. by having accumulated the necessary points.

Red Bull lodged such a request on behalf of its junior driver Arvid Lindblad recently, with the Formula 2 driver currently occupying third in the championship, just eight points behind series leader Alex Dunne.

Lindblad is the leading light of Red Bull‘s junior driver programme and has been heavily praised by Helmut Marko in his rise through the ranks.

Following a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Macau this week, the FIA confirmed it had received a licence dispensation request for Lindblad, and granted the British-Swedish driver the dispensation.

“The FIA has received a request to grant a Super Licence to Arvid Lindblad prior to his 18th birthday,” the FIA stated.

“After considering the information presented in support of this request, the World Council found that the driver has recently and consistently demonstrated outstanding ability and maturity in single-seater formula car competition and therefore approved the request.”

This means that, instead of having to wait for his 18th birthday on August 8th, Red Bull can now call upon his services to drive in FP1 outings or perhaps even as a race driver across its two teams Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls.

More on the FIA Super Licence

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👉 Why the FIA was right to introduce ‘Kimi Antonelli rule’ with super licence regulation change

At present, it’s understood that Lindblad is not being eyed as a potential for Red Bull Racing in any capacity, even if the team are left short a driver if Max Verstappen picks up a race ban. The Dutch driver is currently on 11 penalty points and must make it through the Canadian and Austrian Grands Prix completely cleanly before any points drop off his Super Licence.

Should he pick up any, he will receive an automatic one-race ban, which would mean Red Bull needing to find alternatives.

It’s understood Racing Bulls drivers Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar are the leading contenders to slot in in place of Verstappen if such an eventuality occurred, but this would mean a vacant seat at Racing Bulls. At present, it’s understood that Ayumu Iwasa would be the most likely port of call for such a vacancy, but Lindblad securing his Super Licence means that, even if Red Bull doesn’t intend on promoting their young driver quickly, the option is now there to slot him in.

Last year, a dispensation request was lodged by an undisclosed team, believed to be Williams, to grant Kimi Antonelli a Super Licence prior to his 18th birthday – a solution which would have opened up another potential replacement for the struggling Logan Sargeant at the time.

However, in the end, Williams plumped for Franco Colapinto to replace Sargeant, with Antonelli making his F1 weekend debut in FP1 at Monza, after turning 18 a few days prior.

While the FIA did open up the possibility for dispensation to be granted in exceptional cases, it’s important to note that the Super Licence rules haven’t changed – drivers must still be 18 years old at the start of their first F1 competition weekend, as has been the case since 2016. The only difference the rule change introduced is that dispensation may be sought for 17-year-olds – dispensation can then be granted for those who are easily assessed when they already have the necessary Super Licence points.

These rules were introduced off the back of Max Verstappen’s lightning-fast rise through the ranks, jumping from karting to Formula 3 to Formula 1 in just two years, making his debut at an F1 race weekend three days after turning 17 as he drove in FP1 at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.

The purpose of the Super Licence rules introduced since then has been with the intention of protecting drivers – both those already on the grid and the young people trying to make it there.

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