Arvid Lindblad defended himself regarding the accident he suffered during the TL2 of the Spanish GP of Formula 1 in Madrid, stating that as a rookie in the category, he needs space to make mistakes. The Racing Bulls driver highlighted that he had been pushing to the limit throughout the season and that this accident ended up affecting his preparation for the rest of the weekend.
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The Briton had recorded the fourth-best time of the session before crashing at turn 13, causing damage to the right side of the car. The consequence was a significant loss of confidence, especially important on a street circuit, as well as practically missing TL3 and arriving at the qualifying session much less satisfied than expected.
“I lost a lot of confidence, which is very important on a street circuit, I basically lost all of TL3 and was not happy in the qualifying session, but I managed to do a lap and reach Q3,” Lindblad told the press.
For the young driver, the accident directly changed the course of his preparation: “I definitely think that if I hadn’t crashed, the trajectory up to the qualifying session would have been very different, and I would have been much happier,” he said. Still, Lindblad does not intend to be too hard on himself for the mistake.
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“It’s something to learn from, and in the end, I won’t blame myself for crashing, because it’s something inevitable. I’ve been very much on the limit this year, I was very fast, and it was my tenth time in Q3 this season. I have ‘permission’ to make mistakes and I will learn from it,” he added.
Despite the setback, Lindblad managed to recover and finished the race in ninth, achieving his ninth points finish in his debut season and eighth in the last nine races. His best result until then had been sixth place in Monaco.
The driver also highlighted his ability to react after difficult moments: “I think it’s good to have shown again, and I have shown throughout the year, that when things get tough, I can still recover,” he concluded, also mentioning problems faced in Japan and Budapest before acknowledging that, this time, the mistake in Madrid was more his own responsibility, but he said he was satisfied with how he managed to react.
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