Red Bull have a “future star” within their ranks in Arvid Lindblad, who officially has enough points for a Super Licence having won New Zealand’s Formula Regional Oceania championship.

It means the 17-year-old can fill Red Bull’s mandatory young driver outings in the F1 2025 championship. He could even step into the car this year if one of the team’s newcomers fails.

Arvid Lindblad billed as a ‘future star’

Both Red Bull teams; the senior outfit and Racing Bulls, have new line-ups this season with Liam Lawson behind the wheel of the RB21 while the junior outfit has promoted last year’s Formula 2 runner-up driver Isack Hadjar.

It’s the most changes the organisation has made since 2021 when Sergio Perez joined Red Bull and Yuki Tsunoda stepped up to the junior team.

But unlike with Perez, who was a known entity with 11 seasons on the grid, Lawson has just 11 races under his belt creating some uncertainty as to how the New Zealander will fare.

F1 contracts: Made to be broken?

👉 Revealed: The six drivers out of contract at the end of the F1 2025 season

👉F1 2026 driver line-up: Lewis Hamilton and other drivers already confirmed for 2026

It had Red Bull team principal Christian Horner telling Tsunoda after he was passed over for the Red Bull promotion that the Red Bull dream is not necessarily over for him.

“He knows that things change very quickly,” Horner told The Race. “Who would’ve thought nine months ago we’d be sitting here talking about Liam Lawson being our driver for 2025?

“Things change quickly in this industry and he’s aware of that and knows that he needs to be the one demonstrating that he’s the one knocking on the door.”

And depending on if the situation changes, and how drastically, Red Bull have a new star waiting in the wings in Lindblad.

The 17-year-old won the Formula Regional Oceania championship, earning him enough Super Licence points to immediately step up into Formula 1 if called upon.

Series manager Nicolas Caillol was very impressed with the teenager’s performances, Lindblad winning six races on his way to taking the title by 56 points.

“He’s an exceptional talent, one of the best we’ve seen in New Zealand in recent years, and of course we’ve had some of the world’s best drivers in this championship over the last 20 years,” Caillol said as per Motorsport.com.

“This is also a strong field with a number of drivers who have the potential to make it into Formula 1, IndyCar and other leading series. It’s probably our best field since 2020, and that only underlines how well Arvid is doing.

“We are certainly watching a future star.”

Lindblad’s victory in the New Zealand series came after Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko spoke glowingly of the Red Bull junior driver, hailing him as a potential “champion.”

Appearing on the Inside Line podcast, Marko said: “It’s a great pleasure and enjoyment to work with Max, but Max won’t drive forever. Especially not as long as [Fernando] Alonso or [Lewis] Hamilton are doing.

“And the junior team [ambition] is to find new talents. And we are not looking for a new Max. We’re looking for a new champion.

“I think the next one which looks really promising is Arvid Lindblad.

“First of all is his pure speed. He proved that in go-karting and in all the junior categories.

“He’s very smart and he is honest to himself. When he makes a mistake, he doesn’t look for excuses and he’s looking forward. He’s always one category ahead already. That’s also from his physical side.

“As for his mental preparation, when he goes in a new formula, he is one of the few ones who went directly from Formula 4 to F3. He has his opinion, and he knows how to prepare, and he commits to it step by step.

“So I would say it’s a very good combination between mental and driving skills.”

Read next: Cadillac F1 looks to expand Ferrari engine deal to include suspension