Red Bull hire is not sure he's ready for 2026 season

Red Bull's latest F1 recruit has revealed that he's not sure if he is 'entirely ready' ahead of the 2026 season, which will be his rookie year.

18-year-old Arvid Lindblad has joined Red Bull's sister team Racing Bulls for the 2026 season, following the move that saw Isack Hadjar promoted up into the main Red Bull seat.

Rather than demoting Yuki Tsunoda once more into the Racing Bulls seat, Red Bull opted to take a gamble on Lindblad to fill the lineup alongside Liam Lawson.

Lindblad won three races in F2 last season with the Campos Racing team, and he also excelled in F3 the year before.

But despite that, the British-Swedish national has admitted that it's a big step up into F1, and that he's unsure whether or not he can be entirely prepared for what is to come in the sport.

"I don’t know, I’ve got a lot to learn, if I’m entirely ready, I don’t know," he told F1TV. "It’s not something I really think about. I’m more thinking about how can I get more ready, and things that can help me learn, how I can be in the best position as possible when we get to Melbourne.

"So, I’m just focused on working hard with the team, on the sim, here at the track and with the engineers, just trying to learn as much as I can do, and be a bit of sponge on that side. Then we’ll see."

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F1 2026 rookie drivers

After a 2025 season in which there were four official rookies starting the season - as well as Lawson and Ollie Bearman who had not completed a full season in the sport - 2026 is pretty bare on the rookie front.

Lindblad is the only driver listed as an official rookie, while Franco Colapinto is the only other driver who is yet to complete a full season in the sport having had spells in 2024 and 2025 with Williams and Alpine respectively.

There are plenty of young drivers looking to impress in their second seasons in the sport, however, with Hadjar desperate to prove that he has what it takes to drive for a race-winning outfit alongside Max Verstappen.

What's more, Kimi Antonelli could find himself thrust into a championship battle in his sophomore year, with Mercedes reportedly the team to beat amid the new regulations changes.

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