Arvid Lindblad Rediscovers His Instincts in Mexico After Months of Doubt

Arvid Lindblad has lived an emotional roller coaster in his first Formula 1 season. The British Racing Bulls driver who had started the year with promising performances, suffered a hard emotional blow after a series of crashes in Madrid and Baku that made him lose confidence in himself. In Mexico however Lindblad felt competitive again and although his race ended prematurely due to a crash with Oscar Piastri, the rookie leaves with the feeling of having recovered his best version.

"Being completely honest, I lost a bit of rhythm after Madrid and Baku where I had the two crashes, I was not managing to have the same confidence to demand from the car and take it to the limit. I think I can defend myself in qualifying but in the race it was more noticeable. I am happy because this weekend (in Mexico) I felt more like myself, the race pace was really good, something that used to be a weakness of mine in the last races so I am happy to have returned to my best moment and looking forward to Brazil" Lindblad declared after the race.

The Briton had managed to get into the points and even overtook Piastri for seventh position after the red flag restart, for several laps Lindblad held off the McLaren, which could not find the way to overtake him until on lap 58, Piastri attempted an overtake on the outside at turn 1 and touched the left rear wheel of the Racing Bulls, sending Lindblad into the air and against the wall at the exit of turn 2. Piastri received a ten-second penalty but the damage for Lindblad was already done: another retirement, the third consecutive.

"I don't want to comment too much about it until I have seen all the images but in the end, the pace was good, we were in a genuine fight with him. He was stuck behind me for more than ten laps, I was committed to fighting for that position and I was not going to let him pass me easily on the outside" the rookie explained, making clear that his intention was to defend his position tooth and nail. His stance reflects the hunger of a driver who knows he is playing for his future in every corner and who is not willing to give up ground without fighting.

Despite the result Lindblad showed himself satisfied with his overall performance. His teammate, Liam Lawson, finished seventh after a meritorious comeback from the pit lane, after having been disqualified in qualifying for a technical infringement: "It was an extremely hard race, the first part was a big struggle for us, we missed the VSC, we didn't enter the pits and then we entered for our second stop the lap before the Safety Car, so it was really unfortunate and we lost a lot of race time. Then obviously the red flag helped us, we restarted from P15 and then I tried to attack as much as I could. It is a good recovery for us" Lawson noted.

Racing Bulls faces the final stretch of the season with high morale and the confidence of having demonstrated that it can compete in the midfield, Lindblad for his part, has recovered the smile and the sensations that had made him shine in the lower categories.

His future in Formula 1 is promising and his performance in Mexico is a sign that when he recovers his confidence, he is capable of fighting with the best. The next event in Brazil will be a new opportunity to confirm his progress and continue scoring points for the team.