Brit rookie Lindblad 'living his dream' on F1 debut

Arvid Lindblad said he "showed people a bit of what I am here to do" after finishing eighth on his Formula 1 debut at the Australian Grand Prix.

The 18-year-old Racing Bulls driver, who become the youngest Briton to race in F1 on Sunday, qualified in ninth and briefly rose to third place on the first lap after a dramatic start to the season opener in Melbourne.

Lindblad's top-10 finish means he enters the record books as the third youngest F1 points scorer at 18 years and seven months - behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli and Red Bull's four-time world champion Max Verstappen.

"When I was five years old, I had a dream and my dream was to be in Formula 1 and I am living my dream today," he told Sky Sports.

Lindblad, who was sixth in the Formula 2 standings last year, is the only rookie on the grid this season, coming into the sport during the biggest regulation change in the sport's history.

His confidence was on show at lights out when he passed seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and reigning title holder Lando Norris to briefly reach third place from eighth.

"I am going to take every inch that I can get. I think I showed that on lap one," Lindblad said.

"I have a lot of respect for the senior guys in the sport who have done an amazing job but I am also not going to roll over and give them the place.

"I am here to fight and when I am in the car, I am a ruthless competitor."

Lindblad's mother, Anita, is of Indian descent and his father, Stefan, is Swedish. He takes pride in his heritage, shown by the British, Swedish and Indian flags on his racing helmet.

He joined Red Bull's junior programme at 13 and made his single-seater debut in 2022 at aged 15.

His performances caught the eye of Red Bull's former motorsport adviser Helmut Marko and he was fast-tracked through Formula 4, Formula 3 and Formula 2 year on year.

On Sunday, he outperformed his more experienced team-mate Liam Lawson, who finished 13th at Albert Park.

He credits Ferrari's Hamilton, who made his F1 debut five months before Lindblad was born, as a "big reason" for his F1 career.

"I fell in love with the sport watching Lewis on the TV," Lindblad said, adding "it was pretty nuts" to race with his F1 hero on the track.

"It was a lot of pinch-me moments today," he said.