Rookie immediately on the ball
There was great curiosity on this Friday to see the only rookie of the 2026 season, the Englishman, at work Arvid Lindblad. The Racing Bulls representative did not disappoint expectations and was actually able to get behind the more experienced Liam Lawson in both the first and second free practice sessions. We are still at the dawn of the season and of this new regulatory era and the most important sessions will only arrive tomorrow, but if the good morning starts in the morning the class of 2007 promises to be one of the surprise protagonists of this year.
“It’s been a good first day here in Melbourne – he declared at the end of FP2, after having closed by four tenths of a second to his teammate and having climbed up to eighth position in the time rankings – This morning, before getting into the car, I was a little nervous because it was my first day as an official F1 driver in a Grand Prix. I had a lot of fun and throughout the day we were able to work with the team on the program, trying some short laps and others with a lot of fuel, to better prepare for tomorrow. It was a good day and time I can’t wait for tomorrow to take part in my first qualifying“.
Lawson applauds too
He also expressed satisfaction, at least in words Lawsonauthor of the 13th overall time both in FP1 and in the afternoon session: “We had a very productive day today – declared the New Zealander – we have pretty much completed our testing program and overall I am happy with our speed. Obviously we are trying to improve as much as possible, but arriving in Australia with a competitive car developed through simulations and limited testing puts us in a promising position. The analysis of these new cars seems much more in-depth and we have a lot more to do behind the wheel this year than in previous years, so we are continually learning. Arvid also had a good day today, providing us with really useful data on both cars we worked on. A huge thank you to the team who have done a great job in producing a competitive package and getting the car to where it is today“.
