Rookie Arvid Lindblad put in an impressive 2026 F1 Japanese GP qualifying performance, pushing his Racing Bulls’ car to the limits to secure P10.
Visiting the Suzuka Circuit for the first time, Lindblad’s weekend got off to a strong start in FP1, as he finished in P10. However, in FP2, the Brit suffered from a gearbox issue, missing most of the session, before losing more track time in FP3.
Later, Lindblad found pace when it mattered in Q2 of qualifying, delivering a final lap that eliminated four-time World Champion Max Verstappen from qualifying by 0.153 seconds. In his second Q3 appearance of the season, the Brit was only able to complete one lap, ultimately taking P10.
Lindblad on his “really mega” performance in 2026 F1 Japanese GP Qualifying
Speaking in the print media pen after the 2026 F1 Japanese GP qualifying session, Lindblad said he was proud of his strong performance despite his limited track time.
“Quali felt really good, I mean it’s not been an easy week at all. I missed all of P2, I missed quite a bit of P3 as well with another issue. I wasn’t particularly confident coming into quali just because I was still on the back foot and I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy session,” he explained.
“But I think the job I did was really mega, I think my guys as well on my side of the garage have done an amazing job to give me a car that I had a lot of confidence in with such little mileage. So yeah, I’m very thankful to them, very proud of the job I did because I think we put the car in a position where I’m not sure it belongs.”
So far, this also marks the first time that Lindblad had out-qualified his more experienced teammate, Liam Lawson, who was knocked out in Q2, taking a P14 start for the race.
Reflecting further on qualifying and whether there was space for improvement, Lindblad added: “In Q2 it was everything, in Q3 there was a little bit more. There’s something I can work on there. I don’t think I extracted as much from Q3 as I did in Q2. There’s a little bit more available but I’m sure if you ask the other guys they’ll say the same because I just scraped into Q3 with a mega lap so I think Q3 could have been better but I put myself in a position that I’m not sure I should have been.”
From Q2 to Q3 in qualifying
When asked about how it felt knocking Max Verstappen out, Lindblad was clear that his focus remained on his own performance rather than his rivals, saying:
“I mean in the end it’s, I’m not, I don’t really think… I’m not focused on the others, I’m focused on myself so it doesn’t really bother me who I knock out. I was just happy to be in Q3.”
Although Lindblad progressed to Q3 after his storming final Q2 lap, tyre strategy and a lack of improved conditions made it harder for him to extract the maximum from the car.
“We went on the used tyre on run 1 in Q3 so I had quite a lot less grip and I lost a bit of my references,” he said. “I think the grip in Q3 was pretty similar. I mean for me the conditions were pretty similar, there wasn’t really much of a step and I didn’t quite extract everything out of it as far as I could.”
“We’ll see what happens”: Lindblad on the Japanese GP
Looking ahead to the race and the drivers around him, Lindblad shared: “We’ll see what happens. I mean yes we’ve got Max behind but we’ve also got other midfield cars in front so we’ve had good starts. I’ve had some good lap 1s in the past couple of races so I’m looking forward to tomorrow. Let’s see what we can do.”
The 18-year-old has previously battled Verstappen on track in Melbourne, defending well for a couple of laps before the Dutchman overtook him.
However, despite the optimism, Lindblad acknowledged his limited long-run preparation, as he continued: “I’ve done basically no long-running because of the issues in P2 and in P3. I’m going to go and try and nail my procedure, nail all the basics on the start of the race, then we’ll come up with a good plan on the strategy side and we’re going to send it and see if we can score some points.”
Lindblad reflecting on his standout Q2 lap
Lindblad concluded by reflecting on the impressive Japanese GP Q2 qualifying lap that secured his place in Q3:
“It was pretty special to drive in quali. It was yeah, that was… You know, after Australia and China, I was a little bit disappointed because I didn’t get that one lap in quali, you know, when you just switch off the brain, and just send it. You know, and give absolutely there is.
“I told myself before the last run in Q2, when I knew that if I did a perfect job, I could just scrape through, I was like, I’ve got nothing to lose, I’m just going to send it and if it’s in the wall it’s in the wall. I just had a lot of fun on that one lap, no thinking, just pure driving, pure on the limit, really being at one with the car and I think on a circuit like this it was a feeling I think I’m going to struggle to top.”
