Yet another Toyota Formula Regional Oceania driver makes it onto the F1 grid with the announcement that Brit, Arvid Lindblad, will drive with teammate Kiwi Liam Lawson, for Visa Cash App Racing Bulls in the 2026 championship.
Like Lawson and other Red Bull F1 drivers (Daniil Kvyat, Yuki Tsunoda, Brendon Hartley) who have also competed in NZ, Lindblad raced down-under winning the 2025 Toyota FR Oceania Championship title. However, his situation is unique and quite different to the others.
At this stage it is hard to gauge how good the Lindblad is. While we saw him competing over five consecutive weekends in January in New Zealand, his competition wasn’t exactly world class.
Having made the switch from kartsport to single-seater racing in 2022, he finished third in the 2023 Italian Formula 4 Championship, won the Macau Formula 4 race in the same year. In 2024 he finished fourth in the FIA F3, won the 2025 Toyota FR Oceania Championship at the beginning of 2025 before competing in the FIA F2 Championship.
Lindblad currently sits sixth on the 2025 FIA Formula 2 Championship points table, nine behind fifth place Alex Dunne and nine ahead of seventh placed Pepe Marti. If he remains to stay in sixth, he will gain an additional 10 Super Licence points.
His F2 season hasn’t been a standout for him. He has won just one Sprint and one Feature race.
Lindblad was sent down to New Zealand by Red Bull for one reason only and that was to get Super Licence points which would enable him to gain a very important Formula One licence to be potentially used in 2026. or earlier.
In winning the Toyota FR Oceania, Lindblad gained 18-points crucial towards the 40 required Super Licence points. Previous to this he had already gained 15-points for finishing fourth in the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship and 12-points from his Formula 4 campaigns in 2022 and 2023.
This has been a key factor in his path to Formula One and is now part of the Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ legacy.
This first started with Brendon Hartley, winner of the opening Toyota Racing Series race in 2005 at the Timaru International Raceway. Hartley went on to become a Red Bull Junior Driver, then a World Endurance Championship works driver for both Porsche and Toyota winning the 24 Hour Le Mans and several WEC driver and constructors’ titles. Between racing for Porsche and Toyota Hartley also had a full F1 season with Scuderia Toro Rosso.
Liam Lawson was noticed and gained a Red Bull Junior Drivers contract after his ‘pass’ on Marcus Armstrong on a wet and damp day at the opening round of the 2019 Castrol Toyota Racing Series held at Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell.
Both current F1 drivers Lance Stroll and Lando Norris have Toyota FR Oceania titles. Kiwis Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans are on the world stage, also having won titles.
The next to add to the Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ legacy will be two-time World Rally Champion Kalle Rovanperä’s who’s single seater journey will begin in January 2026 in New Zealand in the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy.
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