Arvid Lindblad‘s 2025 Formula 2 debut campaign was a season of extremes, combining race-winning pace and historic milestones with inevitable rookie mistakes.
Lindblad joined the Red Bull Junior Team in 2021, competing across various championships. Notably, in 2024, Lindblad secured P4 in the FIA F3 Championship in his debut season. This achievement earned him a quick promotion to F2 with Campos Racing at just 17.
Early promise
The season opener in Melbourne began with a mediocre P14 qualifying, which Lindblad turned into a P10 Sprint Race result. The British driver could not further challenge for points in the opening round because wet weather forced the cancellation of the Feature Race.
However, Bahrain brought double points, despite a poor P16 qualifying session. Lindblad climbed up the grid with a strong pace, taking P5 and P8 in the Sprint and feature Races, respectively. The round marked the start of a promising F2 campaign.
Lindblad carried this momentum to Jeddah, where he claimed his maiden Sprint victory, becoming the youngest winner in F2 history. Though he originally crossed the line in P2, a penalty for the race leader promoted Lindblad to P1. The Jeddah Feature Race saw more points after claiming P7.
Imola featured another strong result, with a P6 qualifying and his second Sprint podium, P2. Lindblad went on to finish 4th in the Feature Race.
His performance across the opening rounds established Lindblad as a genuine 2025 F2 title contender.
A Feature Race victory
Lindblad continued his strong form in Monaco and Barcelona. After claiming P6 in Monaco qualifying, Lindblad claimed P8 and P4 in the Sprint and Feature Races, respectively.
Barcelona, however, marked a special weekend for Lindblad and the Campos Racing team. The Brit claimed his first F2 pole position by just 0.245 seconds, to take P8 in the Sprint. In the Feature, Lindblad dominated to claim his first Feature victory, giving Campos Racing a memorable win on home soil.
Mid-season setbacks
After a promising start to the F2 2025 season, rookie mistakes slowly began to creep in throughout the mid-season.
Austria included zero points, and Lindblad’s first DNF of the season in the Sprint Race. His retirement was due to circumstances beyond his control. On Lap 2, Turn 3, Megatounif attempted an inside pass on Lindblad, resulting in a crash and an additional 4 DNFs.
Unfortunately, Spa marked another weekend to forget, despite an encouraging P5 qualifying result. An initial P9 finish in the Sprint quickly dropped to P17 after officials handed Lindblad a post-race penalty for causing a collision with Dino Beganovic on Lap 14. Later in the Feature Race, Lindblad initially secured a P2 result until misfortune struck post-race. Lindblad’s Campos Racing car was found to have a technical infringement, leading to a disqualification.
Monza chaos
Lindblad spent Round 10 in Budapest trying to regroup after the difficult previous rounds. He finished 20th in the Sprint and P6 in the Feature Race.
He continued this form into what looked to be a promising Monza comeback with a P2 Sprint Race podium. Yet, the Feature Race saw that promise fade, with Lindblad retiring after two incidents. Early in the race, Lindblad took out Alex Dunne as he crashed into his rear after overtaking Joshue Dürksen. Later, on Lap 10, Lindblad heavily locked up heading to Turn 1, crashing into the side of Roman Staněk, and causing himself front wing damage that ended his race.
The Campos Racing driver received a post-race five-place grid penalty for Baku, as he was unable to serve a 10-second time penalty in Monza.
Chasing a strong finish
The final three rounds of the F2 2025 season saw Lindblad rebuild his resilience and racecraft to finish on a high in Yas Island.
Baku featured an ordinary regrouping outing that started with a P17 qualifying, turned into a P10 Sprint, and ended with a P6 Feature Race points-finish. Lindblad continued his recovery in Lusail with a P18 Sprint result and a strong P4 Feature Race, as he gained 13 positions.
Finally, the season finale in Yas Island began with a P10 qualifying result and a reverse-grid Sprint pole position. From pole, Lindblad charged to his second Sprint Race victory of the season, marking a significant comeback to close the year. He then went on to claim P9 in the Feature, to end the 2025 F2 season with a few more points.
Impressive rookie campaign
Arvid Lindblad concluded his 2025 F2 campaign 6th in the Drivers’ Standings with 134 points, securing one Feature Race win and two Sprint Race victories. While moments of inevitable rookie mistakes and costly penalties shaped part of his season, his race pace, resilience, and ability to bounce back from difficulties take center stage.
These performances were enough to convince Visa Cash App Racing Bulls of his readiness for the next level, earning Lindblad a dream promotion to Formula 1 in 2026.
