Red Bull’s British junior driver Arvid Lindblad has been awarded an F1 super licence after the team’s request for a special exemption for their 17-year-old protege was granted by the FIA.
Super licences are mandatory to race in F1 and are not usually awarded until a driver turns 18, provided they have also accumulated enough points to qualify for one through finishing positions in other formula over the previous three years.
But, in a revision to the rule made last year, dispensation can now be granted by the governing body to a 17-year-old too if they have “recently and consistently demonstrated outstanding ability and maturity in single-seater formula car competition”.
Lindblad is currently third in his debut season of Formula 2, the feeder series directly below F1, and won two races. He won the Formula Regional Oceania Championship at the start of the year – which secured him enough qualifying points for a super licence once he turned 18 – and finished fourth in his sole season of F3 in 2024.
Lindblad turns 18 on August 8.
Lindblad has impressed on his journey up the motorsport ladder Credit: Red Bull Content Pool)
Red Bull’s request for an exemption is understood to have been made a number of weeks ago but the application was only discussed by the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council at its latest meeting in Macau on Tuesday, the body’s first sitting since late February.
“The FIA has received a request to grant a super licence to Arvid Lindblad prior to his 18th birthday,” read an FIA statement.
“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.”
Will Lindblad feature in an F1 session this year?
The early awarding of a super licence to Lindblad, who was born in Surrey and has a Swedish father and a mother of Indian heritage, means the 17-year-old would now be free to feature in F1 sessions were Red Bull, who own two teams, keen to try him out.
All F1 teams are required to run inexperienced drivers in two Practice One sessions in each car during the course of the season. Red Bull ran Japan’s Ayumu Iwasa in P1 at April’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
And while Red Bull’s application for an early super licence for Lindblad was made some time ago, meaning the two situations are not connected, the approval has been granted ahead of a two-race period when their senior team’s star driver Max Verstappen walks a tightrope after the world champion’s collision with George Russell in the Spanish Grand Prix moved him one further penalty point away from a race ban.
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Watch new footage of Max Verstappen’s onboard as he and George Russell come together in a controversial moment during the final laps of the Spanish Grand Prix
Verstappen must navigate the next two races – the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend and the Austrian GP on June 29 – without collecting any further penalty points to avoid having to sit out a race. Two points expire from his licence on June 30, which would give him some breathing space.
Were the senior Red Bull team required to find a one-off replacement for Verstappen, then one of the two drivers who race for sister team Racing Bulls – Isack Hadjar or Liam Lawson – would almost inevitably be called up to fill in.
Such a scenario, though, would in turn create a one-off vacancy at the junior outfit to fill.
Iwasa, 23, is Red Bull’s more experienced back-up option and has driven in Friday practice sessions for both teams, while Lindblad would also now be a formal alternative too.
Sky Sports F1’s Canadian GP schedule
Thursday June 12
8pm: Drivers’ Press Conference
Friday June 13
4pm: F1 Academy Practice One
6pm: Canadian GP Practice One (session starts at 6.30pm)
8pm: The F1 Show
9pm: Team Principals’ Press Conference
9.30pm: Canadian GP Practice Two (session starts at 10pm)
11.25pm: F1 Academy Qualifying
Saturday June 14
2.10pm: F1 Academy Race One
5.15pm: Canadian GP Practice Three (session starts at 5.30pm)
7.30pm: F1 Academy Race Two
8.30pm: Canadian GP Qualifying build-up
9pm: CANADIAN GP QUALIFYING
11pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook
Sunday June 15
3.50pm: F1 Academy Race Three
5.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Canadian GP build-up*
7pm: THE CANADIAN GRAND PRIX*
9pm: Chequered Flag: Canadian GP reaction
10pm: Ted’s Notebook
*also on Sky Sports Main Event
The 2025 Formula 1 resumes live on Sky Sports F1 with the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime.
