Rookie Arvid Lindblad qualified tenth for the Japanese Grand Prix. In the second part of qualifying, he managed to push Max Verstappen out of the top ten with a strong lap, leaving the Dutchman in eleventh. “This was beyond my expectations,” said Lindblad.
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Arvid Lindblad had a difficult start to the weekend. He did not see action in the second free practice session and also drove little in the third free practice session due to a problem with the car. Despite the limited track time, Lindblad managed to qualify for Q3 at the expense of Max Verstappen. “It’s beyond my expectations. I’m very happy with tenth place. I had confidence in myself and the team, but it was a difficult weekend. The team gave me a car that hadn’t been driven much, but I still had the confidence to go all out. I’m proud of the team and myself,” Lindblad said in the paddock in Japan.
‘Scoring points’
For the British-Swedish driver, the Suzuka circuit is not easy, especially with little experience and limited mileage. “On this track, you really need self-confidence because you’re driving on the limit. You are immediately punished if you make a mistake. It’s not an easy circuit when you’ve driven so little.” Although qualifying was strong, Lindblad is already looking ahead to the race, where he still has a lot to learn. “I haven’t done any long runs because of all the problems, so I’m going to look at the data and learn as much as possible. We’ve had good starts, so I’m going to focus on that and try to keep up in the first lap. I’ve really enjoyed the last few races, so I’m going to take every chance I get in the opening phase. The goal is, of course, to score points,” said the Racing Bulls driver.
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Despite everything, Lindblad also sees positive points. For example, he emphasizes that the team has the car’s energy management reasonably under control, which can be an advantage at Suzuka. “Energy consumption is mainly a bigger problem for the faster teams because they go faster in the corners. We are slightly slower in the corners, which means we are on the throttle for less time and have more energy left over. We have to use that smartly and efficiently. So it’s not very bad for us,” the 18-year-old driver concluded.
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