Arvid Lindblad caused the first red flag of Formula 1 at the new Madrid circuit during TL2. The Racing Bulls driver lost control of the car at the fast turn 13 and ended the session prematurely.
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This interruption happened when TL2 was already 35 minutes in. The 22-turn circuit, located in the IFEMA region in Madrid, was pointed out before the weekend as a layout prone to incidents due to its characteristics, but the first stoppage only occurred at that moment.
Lindblad lost the rear of the car at the entry of the left-hand corner and tried to control the movement. However, the rear initially hit a TecPro barrier, before the front also hit, leaving the Racing Bulls mechanics a considerable repair job overnight.
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On the team radio, the driver immediately took responsibility for the accident and apologized: “Yes, I’m very sorry. I lost it very early,” Lindblad said after the accident.
The moment was even more frustrating because the driver had been showing competitive performance in the session. Before the crash, Lindblad was in fourth position on the timing sheet, with 1m33.890s, just 0.228s behind Kimi Antonelli, who was ahead with his Mercedes. The accident, therefore, interrupted one of the driver’s best laps so far on the new circuit.
Read more Lindblad hits TL2 and causes the first red flag of F1 in Madrid
