'He believed in me when others didn't' – Lindblad opens up on relationship with Marko

Arvid Lindblad, who will make his F1 debut in 2026 with Racing Bulls, has praised Red Bull’s Motorsport Advisor Helmut Marko for supporting him through his junior career ahead of his departure from the team.

The Austrian played a crucial role in managing the Red Bull Junior Programme, overseeing the development of young drivers from Racing Bulls to the senior team, including World Champions like Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel.

With Isack Hadjar set to replace Yuki Tsunoda at the Milton Keynes outfit next season, the 18-year-old Lindblad will become the final driver to have been advised by Marko and promoted to a seat after finishing sixth in Formula 2 in 2025.

“It's quite a big thing,” the rookie said of his ties with Marko. “I mean, I've worked very closely with them the last couple years, Rocky [Guillaume Rocquelin, Head of the Red Bull Driver Academy] and Dr Marko and the whole team. I’m extremely grateful for their support and all the work we've done, but especially with Dr Marko.

“It's not been the easiest year for me. I'm not happy with how it's gone, but he believed in me when others didn't, and I'm very grateful for that.

“I find it funny when a lot of people say how difficult it can be to work with him, their stories of how they struggled to work with Dr Marko, how he's very difficult and people are scared of him. For me, it's always been the opposite. I've always had a very good relationship with him.

“There are certain things he wants to see, and I mean, I can’t talk for others and their experience, but I’ve always had a very good relationship with him, and he’s helped my career massively. The fact that he believed in me when others didn't, I'm very grateful towards him, because this opportunity wouldn't have come without him.

“I don't really like excuses and when people talk rubbish, and he doesn't do that – he just says the truth, and I like to do the same. I think on that side, it's helped me. It's helped me to learn the best way, helped me progress the fastest, because he just says the truth and the way things have been. And I appreciate that honesty as well, because there are a lot of people in motorsport who want you to tell them what they want to hear.”

As the sole rookie on next season’s grid, Lindblad will have plenty to learn, but Red Bull have supported his quick progression through the junior formulas – and he outlined the additional help they have provided through offering Free Practice opportunities and the chance to drive previous iterations of their cars.

Most recently, he featured in the annual post-season test in Abu Dhabi, in which both regular drivers and rookies take part. He completed an impressive 139 laps and ended the day just 0.014s slower than his Racing Bulls team mate Liam Lawson.

Lindblad explained: “I've been doing a lot on the sim with [Red Bull]. I have been for a while now, already started a bit last year, and then obviously, I've been doing some of the FP1s, a little bit of TPC [Testing of Previous Cars] running. So I've been doing a lot of work with Red Bull.

“I think that it isn’t just F2 that has helped the decision [to choose me] for next year. I’ve been working closely with [Red Bull] for a long time. It’s my fifth year on the programme, so I have a very close relationship with all of them.”