F1’s governing physique the FIA has accredited Purple Bull’s request to grant a superlicence to their junior driver Arvid Lindblad.
It means Lindblad, who’s 17, can participate in F1 classes and theoretically make his grand prix debut earlier than he turns 18 on 8 August this 12 months.
Purple Bull used the identical clause within the FIA’s Worldwide Sporting Code as Mercedes did with their very own protege Kimi Antonelli final season.
The exemption request was formally accredited on the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council assembly in Macau on Tuesday.
“The FIA has acquired a request to grant a Tremendous Licence to Arvid Lindblad previous to his 18th birthday,” an FIA assertion learn.
“After contemplating the data offered in help of this request, the World Council discovered that the motive force has just lately and persistently demonstrated excellent capacity and maturity in single-seater method automotive competitors and due to this fact accredited the request.”
Crash.internet understands Purple Bull’s request for Lindblad’s exemption predates the precarious penalty state of affairs Max Verstappen now finds himself in.
The four-time world champion is strolling a tightrope and is only one penalty level away from triggering a race ban, that means he should navigate the Canadian and Austrian grands prix with out additional punishment to keep away from a suspension.
Verstappen’s subsequent penalty factors will come off his present 12-month complete following the Austrian Grand Prix on 30 June.
Nonetheless, the information does give Purple Bull better flexibility ought to they be required to interchange Verstappen for a race.
Lindblad can be a possible candidate to race for sister staff Racing Bulls within the occasion that both Isack Hadjar or Liam Lawson have been promoted to sub-in for the Dutchman.
It additionally permits Lindblad to hold out a reserve driver position for Purple Bull alongside Ayumu Iwasa, in addition to participating in free follow classes.
Lindblad gained his first F2 characteristic race on the final spherical in Spain and sits third within the championship, eight factors behind Alex Dunne.
Arvid Lindblad named a menace to Yuki Tsunoda
Former F1 driver Johnny Herbert believes Lindblad is “the right candidate” to interchange Yuki Tsunoda if Purple Bull really feel one other driver shuffle is required.
“You are at all times in peril of dropping your seat in the event you’re struggling like Yuki Tsunoda, and the way Liam Lawson, Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon all struggled being teammates with Max Verstappen,” Herbert advised YaySweepstakes.
“You get a battering, mentally, once you’re persistently behind your teammate by such a giant hole. Tsunoda is certainly in a troublesome place. Is there a menace to Tsunoda?
“Properly, there’s a explicit man who gained the characteristic race in F2 over the identical weekend, he is a Purple Bull boy and he is moved up extremely quick, that’s Arvid Lindblad.
“I do know Helmut Marko has plenty of respect for Lindblad, I met him when he was 14 when he was karting. He is bought an excellent outlook and mindset on what he needs to do and about moving into F1.
“He is is an ideal candidate to interchange Tsunoda if he continues to battle. Is there somebody on the market who may very well be higher than Verstappen? Sure. May or not it’s Lindblad? Positive, however the actual comes as soon as you’re in a seat with Max when he’s on the opposite facet of the storage.
“That is the place Tsunoda will look over his shoulder as a result of he is not doing the job he’s anticipated to do. F1 is a really robust psychological recreation.”
