Arvid Lindblad

Arvid Lindblad is the only rookie on the 2026 grid. A British driver born in 2007, he is the youngest in the championship and arrived in Formula 1 with Racing Bulls, Red Bull's second team, which had brought him through its young driver programme.

His debut could not have gone better. In Australia, the first race of the season, he started ninth and finished eighth: points on his debut, and ahead of his team-mate Liam Lawson. Then came three races without points and a withdrawal in Canada, where he could not take the start.

The race that put him on the map was Monaco. He started fifteenth at the circuit where overtaking is hardest and finished sixth, his best result so far. Since that weekend he has scored in almost every race: seventh at Silverstone and in Baku, ninth in Belgium, eighth at Monza.

It is too early to know what kind of driver he will be. What his first sixteen races say is that he scores regularly in a midfield car, which is exactly what is asked of a rookie in that team, and that for now his team-mate is ahead.