Looking back at the 2026 Japanese GP, Racing Bulls F1 driver Arvid Lindblad reminisces on how his steady weekend took an unforeseen turn, all thanks to the safety car.
The event began positively for the rookie; he was P10 on Saturday, outpacing teammate Liam Lawson who did have some bad luck in Q2, but more impressively knocking four-time world champion Max Verstappen in the same segment. Arvid Lindblad was eager to make gains on Japan’s legendary Suzuka Circuit.
A poorly timed safety car intervention turned out to be a critical moment for Lindblad during the 2026 Japanese GP. The 18-year-old was on track for a points finish when the restart pushed him down to P14. He had been holding off Isack Hadjar before boxing on lap 18, four tours before the crash for Ollie Bearman occurred.
In contrast, Liam Lawson began the race in P14 but managed to climb to P9, securing two points for the team and finishing ahead of the Brit’s qualifying position.
Lindblad: Unexpected safety car “hurt” progress during the 2026 F1 Japanese GP
Following the race, Lindblad revealed that if there was one thing that hurt the team’s chances of double points, it was the safety car.
“Yeah, I mean I think that was probably, if you look back on the one thing that hurt us the most, that was probably it,” the Racing Bulls driver shared in a post-race chat in the print media pen.
The rookie started the race from P10 and immediately looked comfortable among the midfield runners. By the opening laps, the young driver had climbed to eighth place in the VCARB 03.
“I started P10, the first couple of laps were good,” he said.
However, Max Verstappen demoted him to ninth place, and Haas’s Esteban Ocon managed to push the rookie back to his starting spot as they came through in better race cars.
“I was running in P8. There were a few things I could have managed better during the first stint with Max and Esteban, but still, I was running pretty comfortably in P10.”
Arvid Lindblad & Racing Bulls predicted defensive racing from drivers in Suzuka
Lap 22 was when the race took a dramatic turn. Haas driver Ollie Bearman would trigger the Safety Car after a severe crash — resulting in a massive shake-up for the grid.
This proved to be the pivotal moment of Lindblad’s afternoon. At the restart, he found himself slipping down to 14th place, where track position. Ultimately, the pace to climb into the top-10 conspired against the Racing Bulls driver.
“The safety car came out and we were bumped down to 14th and we didn’t really have the pace to come back through.”
Arvid Lindblad revealed that while the Safety Car was a disruption to his afternoon, the team was aware of the kind of racing that Suzuka would bring forth — a more defensive approach. Racing Bulls lacked the raw pace of Alpine, Red Bull, Haas and Audi in the midfield.
“We kind of knew that before the race there was going to be a bit more of a defensive race than an offensive race. So yeah, a bit of a shame.”
Lindblad not looking to exhaust his energy on things out of his control after 2026 F1 Japanese GP weekend
Aside from this being his first time on the Suzuka track, Lindblad faced a good deal of setbacks, like missing FP2 due to a technical issue. He acknowledged that while focusing on things out of his control seemed futile, things weren’t exactly going his way throughout the weekend anyway.
“But I think regardless, I’m not going to focus on the things that were out of my control, because there have been quite a few things this week that haven’t been in my favour.”
While it’s easy for a young driver in Lindblad’s position to criticise their every move, he shared that a month-long break until Miami is the perfect time for him to focus on what he can do better, rather than nitpicking on what went wrong.
“Focusing my energy on that is not going to make me go any quicker or be any better, so I’m going to try to use the break to focus on the stuff that I can still do better, because I think there is a lot to learn.”
A memorable run for Arvid Lindblad’s first time at the iconic Suzuka Circuit
To wrap up his first F1 Japanese GP weekend, Lindblad couldn’t help but express the joy that his first time in Suzuka brought him. One of the most revered tracks on the calendar, Lindblad revealed that it was the circuit he was “most looking forward to” driving on this year.
“Obviously, it’s a very iconic circuit, it was probably the circuit I was most looking forward to driving this year.
“And, yeah, it was very special, it was very fun, especially in quali, you know, on the low fuel, high grip, it feels really cool.
“I think I’ve enjoyed it a lot, and it’s just cool to drive a track which is so fast, you need a lot of commitment, even in the race, you know, where there’s basically no day, you’re just doing 50 laps, flat out every lap, it’s fun.”
