Is Arvid Lindblad the next Max Verstappen?

Notably, Lindblad is 10 years younger than 27-year-old Verstappen, who is ten years younger than Red Bull's other four-time Formula 1 World Champion, Sebastian Vettel. In terms of timeline, Lindblad is spot on track to become the team's next generational talent.

Many at within the Red Bull racing organisation, privy to data and all the tools that differentiate good from great, believe Arvid Anand Olof Lindblad - born and raised in the United Kingdom to a Swedish father and a mother of Indian heritage - is the next 'big thing', hence the F1 Super Licence application by his team. But they are not alone. Ex-Formula 1 driver Johnny Herbert also sees massive potential in the teenager.

Speaking ahead of this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix, Herbert said of the new kid on the block: "I know Helmut Marko has a lot of respect for Lindblad. I met him when he was 14, when he was karting. He's got a very good outlook and mindset on what he wants to do and about getting into F1. He's a perfect candidate to replace Tsunoda if he continues to struggle.

"Is there someone out there who could be better than Verstappen? Yes. Could it be Lindblad? Sure, but the real test comes once you are in a seat with Max when he is on the other side of the garage. That's where Tsunoda will look over his shoulder because he's not doing the job he is expected to do. F1 is a very tough mental game."

Herbert's mention of Tsunoda comes in the wake of Red Bull failing to find a suitable teammate to Verstappen, who can actually drive the finicky RB21. Liam Lawson was given a far too brief two-race spell to 'disprove' himself, then they saw it wise to promote the Japanese driver. Both decisions have bombed, establishing only that two of the three drivers in their four-car team are not up to scratch.

Herbert weighed in on the Red Bull number two driver crisis: "You're always in danger of losing your seat if you're struggling like Yuki Tsunoda, and how Liam Lawson, Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon all struggled being teammates with Max Verstappen.

You get a battering, mentally, when you're consistently behind your teammate by such a big gap. Tsunoda is definitely in a difficult position. Is there a threat to Tsunoda? Well, there is a particular guy who won the feature race in F2 over the same weekend, he's a Red Bull boy and he's moved up incredibly fast — that is Arvid Lindblad."

Like most of the paddock, Herbert is full of praise for VCARB rookie Isack Hadjar: "He has been very impressive, and rightly so. The nice thing that he's doing is just consistency. He's not been up and down. He's pretty good every time he's on the track. Isack might not have the perfect weekend all the time, but no one has so far this season.

"Hadjar is making people and teams think; he's put himself in a very good position. Of course, there's always the new promising rookies coming through. I was one of those before I had my accident, then it was Jean Alesi. Even if you're in the VCARB seat and doing a good job, but Arvid Lindblad wins the F2 championship, Red Bull, I would think, will want the champion in their second seat, especially with how quickly Lindblad has progressed.

"But I think Hadjar is making that decision for Red Bull difficult, even if he never won F2. Red Bull now have potentially two young talents, and if Max Verstappen leaves Red Bull, according to the rumours, the team has two great talents that can drive for them," ventured Herbert.