Red Bull apply for FIA Super Licence as F1 replacement option emerges

Red Bull Formula 1 team have confirmed their application for an official FIA Super Licence for up-and-coming junior star Arvid Lindblad.

The 17-year-old racer currently competes as a Red Bull athlete in F2 where he has been smashing records all season long, with an F1 promotion firmly in his sights in future.

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The move by Christian Horner's F1 outfit comes as star driver Max Verstappen is on the brink of receiving a race ban, with his total of 11 points now just one away from the 12 which would result in a ban.

At last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, the Dutchman picked up three more penalty points thanks to a controversial clash with Mercedes' George Russell in the closing stages of the race, with Verstappen needing to avoid any further incidents before June 30, 2025, when two of his points expire.

However, GPFans understands the Super Licence application is not related to Verstappen’s potential race ban, as the request was made during the middle of April.

As a member of Red Bull's junior driver programme, Lindblad is the long-term 'replacement option' as he can officially take part in an FIA session for F1 if he gets the licence. Short term, he is not an F1 option if Verstappen does get banned.

Lindblad meets all the requirements for an FIA Super Licence given he has accumulated enough points from junior formulas, but it is his age which is preventing him from taking part in an official F1 session.

Is Lindblad the answer to Red Bull's future talent concerns

Red Bull has always boasted a talented pool of young drivers who are signed up to their junior programme in the hope of one day getting the call to race for either their junior or main team.

With Verstappen dominating the drivers' championship for the last four years and contributing significantly to Red Bull's constructors' success in 2022 and 2023, Red Bull should have no worries over the future of their team.

However, since Sergio Perez was dropped as Red Bull's second driver at the end of last season, no individual has quite managed to get the hang of the infamously tricky RB21 alongside Verstappen.

Liam Lawson was a product of Red Bull's junior driver programme but was demoted back to the junior outfit after just two grands prix earlier this year. Alongside him at Racing Bulls is 2025 rookie Isack Hadjar, who has so far impressed Red Bull's F1 advisor Helmut Marko, now sitting ninth in the standings.

Notably, Hadjar has earned more points across the last two races alone (14) than Red Bull have as a team, with Verstappen securing all 13 and his new team-mate Yuki Tsunoda failing to bring home any.

The final race of F1's European triple-header marked a disappointing end to the run of three consecutive grands prix for Red Bull, where Verstappen was demoted to 10th by the FIA and Tsunoda once again finished out of the points in 13th.

In F2 however, Lindblad proved his potential yet again by taking a tenth out of the rest of the pack in the final sector of qualifying in Barcelona, earning him the record of becoming the youngest driver to start pole position in F2.

The 17-year-old later converted this into his first Feature Race victory in the support series and with an FIA Super Licence pending, could be set to take part in an F1 practice session before his 18th birthday in August.

Last year Mercedes submitted a similar request for Kimi Antonelli to take part in a session, a process which led to an amendment of the FIA International Sporting Code.

Article 13.1.2. Appendix L now states: "At the sole discretion of the FIA, a driver judged to have recently and consistently demonstrated outstanding ability and maturity in single-seater formula car competition may be granted a Super Licence at the age of 17 years old."

Should Lindblad be granted the Super Licence exception, this could mean Red Bull are ready to try him out in an F1 car at the Canadian GP next weekend, although that turnaround seems unlikely with the request set to be reviewed next week. The Austrian GP in late June would be the next chance to field Lindblad or, perhaps at the British star's home race in Silverstone at the start of July.

Alternatively, there are also two race weekends that follow the British GP in Belgium and Hungary before Lindblad turns 18, but whether or not Red Bull decides to utilise his pending Super Licence just yet, the young star is sure to make an appearance in F1 with one of their outfits in the near future.

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