After Max Verstappen drove his car into George Russell during Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix, the four-time F1 world champion is now precariously close to a race ban. Red Bull Racing is now requesting an exemption from the FIA to allow 17-year-old Arvid Lindblad to race in F1. If Verstappen doesn’t escape the month without accruing any more penalty points, the team will be forced to play a game of musical chairs with its rising rookies and demoted prospects.
For a quick refresher on how disciplinary action works in F1, race stewards dole out penalty points to drivers for adjudicated incidents that remain on their Super License for a year. If drivers reach a 12-point total, they must serve a single race ban. Verstappen currently has 11 points. The Dutch driver has two points from a collision with Lando Norris during last year’s Austrian Grand Prix that will expire on June 30. There are two races before that date: Canada and this year’s visit to Austria. Verstappen must keep a pristine record through those two weekends to avoid a ban.
Arvid Lindblad is Red Bull’s next young hotshot
Lindblad is the cream of the current Red Bull Junior Team crop and has the results to qualify for a Super License. However, there’s one problem. The British teenager is not old enough to compete in the world championship. After Verstappen debuted as a 17-year-old in 2015, the FIA set a minimum age of 18 to ensure it couldn’t be done again. However, the FIA granted itself the power to grant exemptions to future 17-year-olds deemed capable enough. According to the Race, Red Bull applied for this exemption, and the FIA World Motor Sport Council will decide during its next meeting next week. The body handed out the exemption to Kimi Antonelli last year, ahead of a potential mid-season debut with Williams that never materialized.
While Red Bull owns and operates two F1 teams, the organization only has a single reserve driver across both outfits, Ayumu Iwasa. Like Yuki Tsunoda, Iwasa joined the Red Bull Junior Team in 2021 through its sunsetting partnership with Honda. The Japanese driver has developed into a capable driver in F2, but never lived up to the expectations set after winning the 2020 French F4 title. Iwasa departed the European ladder for the Super Formula Championship this season.
F1 seat time is a scarce resource
No matter how the race-ban-provoked game of musical chairs plays out, Red Bull would like to give Lindblad some F1 race experience. The two most likely scenarios would be either Lindblad directly replacing Verstappen on the senior team or Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar getting a field promotion as the teenager subs in on the junior team.
Experience is the only guaranteed method of improving as a racing driver, and genuine F1 seat time is rarer than diamonds. Haas’ current driver Oliver Bearman made himself one of the sport’s most desirable prospects through a debut as a one-off substitute last year. Replacing an appendicitis-stricken Carlos Sainz, the 18-year-old secured a 7th-place finish for Ferrari. A single race would be enough for Red Bull to gauge Lindblad’s aptitude for F1. If Verstappen gets banned, the team wants some lemonade out of this lemon of a dilemma.
