Campos Racing’s Arvid Lindblad is determined to bounce back in Baku after a disastrous end to his F2 Italian GP. Although Lindblad secured himself a P2 finish in the Monza Sprint, the Feature Race was far from ideal for the 18 year-old. The Briton takes on the streets of Azerbaijan for the first time this weekend as he looks to finish the final F2 rounds on a high.
During Thursday’s virtual media session, Lindblad spoke to Pit Debrief and other media outlets, reflecting on his rookie season so far, his goals for the final rounds, and more.
First visit to Baku for Lindblad
Having risen rapidly through the ranks, Lindblad as regularly been challenged with new circuits each season. This weekend marks the Briton’s first visit to a track since Jeddah. When asked about how he’d prepared for this weekend, Lindblad explained that his preparation hasn’t differed much from usual and relied heavily on simulator work. He noted that the track walk allowed them to look into the finer details, but other than that, his approach to the weekend remains unchanged.
“Yeah, my first time here at Baku. I wouldn’t say the preparation is really that different to any other circuit. Just a lot of sim [simulator] and all that sort of stuff. So honestly, it’s not that different. Obviously, the circuit is quite unique so maybe on the track walk we’ll go a bit more into detail with stuff. But honestly, I wouldn’t say it’s specifically different.”
Taking the next step up each year and personal growth
Since 2023, the Briton has quickly climbed up the single-seater ladder, stepping up to the next possible category each year. When Pit Debrief asked the 18 year-old about the challenges of progression and his personal growth, Lindblad highlighted the jump from F4 to F3 as the toughest transition he has faced so far in his career.
“Yeah, I’ve come through the ranks very quickly. I’d say the biggest challenge was, I mean, all the steps have been difficult but I would say from F4 to F3 I found more challenging just because the step was really big. I mean, on the average track I think the F3 car that I drove was 13-14 seconds quicker than F4 so it was a pretty massive step so that was really challenging.”
Adding to that, Lindblad admitted that reflecting on his personal growth was a tough question to answer but acknowledged the support system he has around him. Having spent the past few years with Prema Racing and now Campos, he believes he has matured significantly.
“And then on my personal growth, I don’t know, really this is a bit of a hard question to answer, but I think with the people around me, with Red Bull, with Prema the last few years, Campos this year, I think I’ve matured a lot and yeah, grown into the driver I am today.”
Reflects on his weekend to forget in Monza
Sunday in Monza ended far from how Lindblad would’ve hoped to wrap up the European leg of the F2 calendar. After colliding with Alex Dunne and Roman Staněk, all three drivers’ races ended in retirement and heavy damage to their cars. Looking back on the weekend, Lindblad admitted it was a missed chance to secure another solid podium finish and owned up to the mistake he’d made with Dunne.
“Yeah, Monza wasn’t a very good race. It was a bit of a shame because I think the speed was really good in the first stint and I think I would have been fighting for the podium for sure. And yeah, I just made a mistake with Alex [Dunne], just a genuine mistake and I’ll learn from it.”
He admitted that he was caught out by the lack of grip in and described his incident with Staněk as something largely out of his control. However, still, he stressed the importance of learning from his mistakes and expressed his excitement about tackling a new circuit.
“I was a bit caught out with how little grip there is when you get so close, but fine. And then obviously, the second incident as well was a bit of a shame, was a bit more not in my control, but fine. Just learn from what happened and very much looking forward to this weekend. It’s an exciting track. So I think it’s going to be, yeah, pretty enjoyable.”
“It’s very competitive” says Lindblad on 2025 F2 season
Although the season-opener in Melbourne wasn’t the best, Lindblad and his teammate Pepe Martí began the season on a relatively strong note. However, as the season has continued to unfold, the Briton and the Spanish outfit often experienced inconsistency, with some weekends going exceptionally well while others proved more challenging.
Reflecting on his season, Lindblad said: “I mean, looking back on the year, I’m really happy with how the first five, six rounds went. I think the progression and development and progress that I made through them was really strong. Like you said, winning the race in Barcelona, that was a really strong weekend. I guess something surprised about the championship is just how it can change a lot. It’s a difficult championship. It’s very competitive.”
“And yeah, it was a bit confusing for me and the team. We were really competitive in the beginning of the year, and then we struggled a bit more in the middle. I mean, it’s been up and down in the sense that the four rounds from Red Bull Ring to Budapest, we just weren’t that fast. In Spa, it was a shame we got disqualified, but again, it was worse. I think we just struggled for pace in the dry. But then the team worked really hard over the summer, and I think we’ve kind of found our form again.”
Confident in delivering a good performance this weekend
As the weekend in Baku kicks off, Lindblad continued and admitted that his rookie F2 season has lacked consistent pace but remained optimistic. The 18 year-old expressed confidence in his and the team’s ability in delivering a strong performance this weekend.
“So we’ll see what it’s like this week. But yeah, it was a bit of a shame that we just haven’t had the same sort of consistency of speed all throughout the year. But yeah, we’ll see what happens this week. I’m really confident in the team that we can have a really good weekend.”
Advice for Stenshorne this weekend
With eleven rounds in F2 completed, Lindblad heads into Baku with a decent amount of experience under his belt. When Pit Debrief asked the 18 year-old for advice for Trident’s Martinius Stenshorne , who joins the team and series for the first time this weekend, Lindblad said: “I don’t know. For starters, the track itself is not going to be easy. I think all of us are going to have to build up. I don’t know. It’s not easy to say. I think Martinius [Stenshorne] first has to try to just get comfortable with the car.”
“It’s very different from F3. I haven’t even driven the new F3 car, so I can’t fully comment, but I think this one, it moves around a bit more and it’s not quite as comfortable and easy to drive. So just building up confidence in the car to start with and then trying to build confidence on probably the hardest track of the year. So yeah, just getting comfortable and then pushing the limits.”
Preparation for safety cars in Baku
When asked about how driver prepare in advance for safety car restarts in Baku, Lindblad echoed much of Stenshorne’s thoughts. The Briton explained how this weekend will be about taking things one step at a time as they come. Noting the unpredictable chaotic nature of Baku, he emphasised staying alert and keeping brakes in optimal temperatures to avoid any trouble that might come their way heading down into Turn 1.
“Yeah, I think similar to Martinius [Stenshorne], obviously you can’t plan for what stuff’s going to happen. You kind of have to just take it as it comes. But obviously watching back races from previous years, there is a high risk of safety car and there’s always a lot of action here.”
“So I think just being aware for knowing that it might come. And I think we all know T1 on a safety car restart is pretty exciting here in F2, so trying to make sure the brakes are in as good a window as possible to try to stay out of trouble.”
Realistic championship title hopes and goals for final three rounds
Currently seventh in the Drivers’ Standings as two rounds remain, Lindblad’s hopes of claiming the 2025 F2 title is starting to slip away. The Briton trails 73 points behind the current championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli. For Lindblad to have any shot at the championship, he would need to win nearly every remaining race. The 18 year-old remained realistic and admitted that he hasn’t really dwelled on his chances of the championship anymore.
“Yeah, I’m pretty, we’ve lost a lot of points this year through some things that have been my fault, things on the team. So yeah, we are quite far back now in the championship. So realistically, I don’t think we can win. I mean, yeah, 70 points is a lot. So I’m not really looking, looking at the championship too much.”
For the final two rounds after Baku, Lindblad explained that he has goals set for himself as he shifts his focus away from claiming the title. The Briton aims to maximising each weekend, hoping to climb further up the standings before the season concludes.
“For me, I just want to have a good few weekends, try to win some races. That’s all I’m focused on trying to do and maximise myself. Then we’ll see what happens. I think if we do a good job and maximise everything in the next few rounds, then sure, we can go up a few places.”
“But I think, yeah, like I said, we’ve lost a lot of points this season. So realistically, looking at the championship, especially for winning is not really where it’s at.”
Playing the team game for Campos in their hunt for the teams’ title?
Although the Drivers’ title has largely slipped away for both Campos drivers, the Spanish team remains in contention for the Teams’ Championship, sitting third and 42 points behind current leaders Invicta Racing. When asked whether the team has spoken to both drivers about prioritising the team moving forwards, Lindblad denied and believes it won’t be a topic that’ll be brought up.
“No, we haven’t. I mean, we’ll see. But to be honest, I don’t think that will really come up in the end. I think all of us in these Junior Series, we’re here for ourselves and here to try to do well and all try to get to Formula 1. So we’ll see what happens. If there’s a situation where it makes sense, then we’ll see.”
The 18 year-old believes that the best way to support the team will be to maximise their weekends. While he acknowledged that a situation could arise where team orders might make sense, he considers it something very unlikely.
“But to be honest, I think the best way to help the team in the team’s championship is to drive as fast as possible and to do good results and try to win the races. So, I mean, yes, we’ll see if there’s a scenario where it makes sense, then maybe. But I think it’s very unlikely.”
