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Racing Bulls recall 'nightmare' in Arvid Lindblad protection plan
Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane has recalled how the
outfit handled Isack Hadjar’s Australian Grand Prix "nightmare"
last year, in its plan to protect and support Arvid Lindblad. At
just 18 years old, Lindblad finds himself on the 2026 Formula 1
grid after a successful promotion from Formula 2, with the young
Briton set to partner Liam Lawson. Red Bull has put significant
time and effort into Lindblad’s rapid progression, having only
moved into single-seater racing in 2022, with his first full-time
single-seater campaign coming a year later. Much is expected of
Lindblad, who is the only rookie on the grid this year. He has
taken the spot of Hadjar, who finds himself alongside Max
Verstappen for his second F1 campaign following a tremendous rookie
season. Hadjar’s rookie year started in the worst way possible,
after crashing on the formation lap in Melbourne, putting Racing
Bulls on the spot to offer him immediate support and protection. He
went on to make huge strides, with Permane recognising that
Lindblad will need looking after to a certain degree, especially
when things go wrong. Asked how much the team needs to protect and
support Lindblad, Permane told talkSPORT : "Yeah, we need to be
there for him. We need to be there to put our arm around him if and
when things go wrong. "We will be there to support him and to make
sure that nothing gets on top of him or destroys him too much. "We
saw it with Isack last year, in the first race in Melbourne. It was
a nightmare for him, but we also saw that with some support and
care, and building him back up, two races later he had one of the
races of his life in Japan. "So I think these guys are strong —
these kids. They’re not normal 18-year-olds. You know, they’ve come
through junior formulas, karting, and that sort of thing, and they
know what they’re doing. So no, we’ll be there to look after him."
