After three races without points and a technical issue, Arvid Lindblad was finally able to showcase his talent on the streets of Monaco. Now ready to fully unleash his potential, the Racing Bulls driver is determined to build on his victories from the past two years in Catalonia and prove his strength.
Fifth in the power rankings at Monaco
Since the start of the season, scoring points hasn’t been easy for the Briton.
He started off well with an eighth-place finish in Australia, but he couldn’t repeat that in the next three races. Worse still, in Canada, he couldn’t even start the race due to a technical problem.
That didn’t stop him from keeping a cool head and approaching the Monaco weekend in the best way possible. And, after qualifying 15th, he made the most of incidents and penalties handed out during the race.
The young driver pulled off a spectacular comeback to finish sixth, scoring eight points in the Principality and proving he’s got what it takes.
Indeed, he managed to avoid the pitfalls of Monaco’s narrow streets and got back into the race well after the red flag. What’s more, he was ranked fifth in the grid’s official power rankings (power ranking) on Sunday (behind Kimi Antonelli, Lewis Hamilton, Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson) - proof that he has what it takes to go far.
"We had a really good race. I’m happy with the team’s work, and with what I did. I was disappointed in qualifying, I thought there was a big gap compared to what we expected, but in the end, we scored points, and that’s great," he said in the mixed zone after his race.
Winner in F2 and F3
On a good run, the rookie also has a track record to rely on. In fact, over the past two years, he has been crowned winner in Barcelona. Whether in F2 or F3, he has mastered the circuit and claimed impressive victories. So why not this year?
Of course, it’s unlikely he’ll make the podium given the strength of the competition. But he does have the chance to keep up his momentum and finish in the points.
"It will be interesting to see how the car has evolved, because it’s the only circuit where we’ve already driven during testing. Barcelona is a fun track to drive, one of those I’ve always particularly enjoyed," he said this Thursday during Media Day to nextgen-auto.com.
In Catalunya, the Briton has already shown impressive speed and race management skills that belie his young age (18). There’s no doubt he’ll deliver another high-level performance.
Who knows, maybe magic will happen.