Karting star who told Lando Norris he'd race him in F1 closing in on fulfilling promise
Karting star who told Lando Norris he'd race him in F1 closing in on fulfilling promise
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In 2021, a skinny teenager walked up to Lando Norris and told him he would soon be competing against him in Formula 1. Three years later, Arvid Lindblad is inching closer to living up to his own bold prediction. And, judging by the timetable Red Bull have laid out for him, the 17-year-old might just do it a year quicker than even he had planned.
The British-Swedish driver, who races under the Union Flag, looks likely to be the next F1 racer off the Red Bull production line. His maiden Formula 3 season this year was good enough for fourth place in the championship and the rookie of the year awards.
More pertinently, he earned a promotion to Formula 2 for the 2025 season where he will have the chance to audition for another move up, this time to F1. And if he can pull that off, he will be ahead of his own schedule. After all, Lindblad was the one who made a rather bold statement upon meeting McLaren racer Norris for the first time back in 2021. In a video still available on the Brit's YouTube channel, the 14-year-old karting prodigy is seen walking up to Norris, shaking hands with him and saying: "Lando, I want you to remember me - I'll see you in five years.".
Norris was clearly impressed with the level of self-confidence on display, simply smiling before he replied: "Nice thinking!" But given the progress the youngster has made since then, it's clear that Lindblad has the talent to back it up. His exploits have caught the eye of exactly the right man. Helmut Marko is the person you need to impress if you are to land a place in the Red Bull driver academy and then make progress while in it, and the Austrian recently said he has his eye on Lindblad as the next potential graduate from the system.
