Arvird Lindblad secured a P2 finish in the F2 Sprint Race at the Imola GP for Campos Racing. Starting P5 on the grid, the Brit impressively passed two of his rivals on a track where overtaking opportunities are infamously limited.
A decisive first lap
After finishing on the podium, Lindblad reflected on the key moments that shaped his performance in the post-race interview. The rookie driver happily recognized that the F2 Sprint Race at the Imola GP was a very positive performance.
“Yeah, it was a really good race today.“
While he had started in fifth position, a strong launch at the green light enabled the British driver to pass two rivals on the first lap.
“I started P5, got a good launch. Found a good gap into turn 2. I was able to get into P3 already on lap 1.”
After overtaking two of his rivals early in the race, Lindblad continued:
“We were just managing the pace. I saw Ritomo [Miyata] was trying to struggle a bit in front and Jak [Crawford] was starting to get away.”
Lindblad decided that lap 12 was a strategic point in the F2 Sprint Race. The Red Bull junior therefore attacked to successfully overtake the Japanese driver.
“I thought that was the moment to try to go. I made the move on him”.
After passing Miyata, Lindblad found himself behind Crawford, managing his pace and tyres to the best of his abilities.
“I was just trying to manage things behind Jak [Crawford]”.
Soft tyres, hard lessons
With no soft tyre option provided last year at Imola, Campos Racing lacked reliable data on the soft tyre degradation around the Italian track. Managing tyre degradation was therefore a challenge for both team and driver in the f2 Sprint Race at the Imola GP.
“Like he said, the tyres were quite critical today. We knew that with the soft, it was the first time, it was a bit unknown. We knew it was going to be quite a lot of deg. We were just trying to be smart. Tried to use all that was left at the end.”
Lindblad acknowledged that his efforts were unfortunately insufficient to try and overtake the Sprint Race leader.
“I was able to close in a bit. But still not quite enough to get within the DRS and make a move.”
With DRS enabling more overtakes, Lindblad’s position was under threat from his compatriot Luke Browning.
“Luke [Browning] was quite quick in the early laps. I was trying to not push too hard in the beginning. He was putting me under a bit of pressure.”
The early pressure kept the Red Bull junior from settling in right away. But as the Sprint Race unfolded, Lindblad gradually found his rhythm and grew more comfortable behind the wheel.
“The first couple of laps, I was having to be a bit more in the mirrors than I wanted. But then I just settled into the rhythm and just drove and cracked on with it. Then it all started to be okay.”
Once confident, Lindblad quickly switched to a more aggressive driving style to overtake his Japanese competitor.
“Then Ritomo [Miyata] started struggling, so it very quickly went to attacking.”
Lindblad “keen now to start to be better on Sunday’s races”
While Lindblad secured two consecutive Sprint race podiums in Jeddah and in Imola, the rookie has yet to finish on the coveted steps in a Feature race. The Briton eventually expects to finish on the podium for a Feature Race, given his consistent progress:
“I hope so. It’s good to get podiums in sprints, but the features where the real points are, that’s the proper race. I’m happy with the progress that’s being made.
“I think I’m getting better every time I get in the car. I’m keen now to start to be better on Sunday’s races.”
Rising fast, learning faster
Making an impressive F2 debut in 2025 after standout performances in F4, and F3, Arvid Lindblad is a rising Red Bull-backed talent. The young driver acknowledged that his rapid ascent through the junior ranks is an added layer of difficulty for him:
“I think it’s been okay. I knew going into the year it was going to be challenging, obviously. It’s the penultimate run on the ladder now.
“This is the highest level before Formula 1. Like you said, I’ve come through quite quickly. I’m still the youngest on the grid, I’m still very inexperienced, so I’m learning a lot.”
Though he progressed impressively fast, Lindblad lamented his results in the early 2025 F2 Rounds.
“That being said, I’m not that happy with how the first couple of rounds went. But I think I’m getting better every time I get in the car, and the performance the last few races has been good.
The British rookie now aims to keep the momentum going and further improve his performance with Campos Racing.
“So, I’m just focused on trying to keep this trajectory going and trying to keep improving, and I think then I’ll start to become more and more competitive.”
Support from the pit wall
Driver-engineer relationship is a crucial component of any success in Formula 2. While drivers often appear to be pushing their car to its maximum speed, the pilots must optimize tyre degradation. As Lindblad rightly focused on preserving his tyres, his engineer – armed with more comprehensive data – eventually suggested that he pushthe car to the maximum.
“Yeah, I mean, like we mentioned earlier, there was quite a lot of deck today with the soft, so we weren’t flat out for a long time.
“So, I think it was, like Luke said, the engineers and the team could see a bit more on the pit wall than we can.
“And yeah, just an appreciation of also how the other cars look and how everyone else seems if they’re pushing and also just how long is left in the race.”
Lindblad welcomed his engineer’s support on the radio:
“So it’s just a little bit of help and guidance.”
All eyes on Lindblad
While Formula 2 is undeniably a proving ground for future F1 drivers, Lindblad does not feel added pressure from being under the spotlight.
“To answer your first question, I mean, I think the world’s watching everyone. I don’t think there’s any more eyes on me than the rest. I mean, we’re all trying to perform and prove why we should be in Formula 1.”
“I mean, all three of us are on F1 programmes. So, on that regard, we have people watching. So, I don’t feel any pressure from anyone.
Driven by ambition, the rookie pursues peak performance regardless of outside pressure.
“I want to win. I want to be in Formula 1. I want to win a world championship. So I’ve had that goal since when I was five, when I started this journey. So I just sort of pushed myself to perform.”
Tiptoeing into F1
As is customary for F1-backed prospects, the drivers get to practice with the F1 team at some point in the season. Questioned about the schedule of that promised free practice, Lindblad candidly answered: “And on the free practices, I don’t know. You’ll have to talk to Red Bull.” Even though the Briton tested with Red Bull a few months back, he is largely focused on F2.
“I’m just focused on F2. I had a test here in February. But yeah, I don’t really know what’s going on exactly.”
What could have been
Closing in on his competitor in the final laps of the race, Lindblad could not overtake Crawford. As he got his Campos Racing car closer to Crawford’s machinery, Lindblad struggled to complete the pass. Asked the possibility of overtaking Crawford had the race lasted longer, Lindblad candidly replied: “It’s hard to know. Maybe.”
“The gap, like you said, was closing. I could already feel that when I got to around less than 1.5, it started to become harder to catch. Just as you get the dirty air, you lose a bit of grip.”
“Yes, it’s hard to know, but maybe”, he reaffirmed.
Calculated risks at Imola
The Imola GP is infamous for its punishing turns and risky overtakes – one mistake can send drivers into the gravel trap and abruptly end their race. As a result, each move has to be thoroughly calculated. Still, the opening laps remain crucial, explained Lindblad.
“Like you said, this track is quite notorious for being hard to pass. That puts even more importance on the start and lap one. Therefore, you take a bit more risk in the beginning.
In the F2 Sprint Race at the Imola GP, Lindblad applied this very strategy. He indeed successfully moved from P5 to P3 in the first few corners.
“I knew I had to get a good launch, which I did. I was already able to get one position off the line. There was a gap into Turn 1 or Turn 2, and I went for it.”
A surprising new tyre
Answering a question by Pit Debrief, Lindblad agreed with his colleagues Crawford and Browning that tyre degradation was a surprising element to the F2 Sprint Race at the Imola GP. Driving on the soft tyre for the first time around Imola was unpredictable.
“It was a bit of an unknown”, described Lindblad.
“Yes, not too much to add. I think Luke and Jack have kind of covered it. I had a guess just coming into today.”
“[…] First time the soft has been the prime round here, so there was a question mark there and kind of had to experiment, see how it went, and we can use that knowledge now for tomorrow.”
