Lindblad managed to clinch his second F2 sprint race podium of the season after starting fifth on the grid after sending the car off the track within the opening corners of the race however still managed to climb to P3 in lap one after his “good launch” off the grid, unlike Sami Meguetounif who had to be pushed into the pitlane after stalling his car at the start.
Lindblad remained in P3 whilst “managing the pace” up until lap 11, where Lindblad commented that he recognised Ritomo Miyata was struggling up up ahead and Jak Crawford had begun to “get away” causing Arvid to realise “that was the moment to try to go”, causing him to push and put immense pressure on Miyata throughout lap 11 before finally overtaking him on lap 12 to claim P2, whilst trying to maintain trye derogation after racing on the soft compound with little knowledge of how quickly they were going to wear meaning Lindblad identified he had to “try and be smart to use all that was left at the end”.
Unfortunately for Lindblad, he pointed out that whilst he was able to close in on Jak up ahead towards the end, he ultimately ran out of laps and couldn’t quite close the gap to get DRS, which had been key throughout the race for many drivers to climb positions, and take P1, yet still appreciated the P2 finish after climbing three places up from P5.
Lindblad also recalled how difficult it was “trying not to push too hard in the beginning” yet Luke Browning behind his had different ideas, putting pressure on Lindblad and forcing him to be “more in the mirrors” than he wanted to to try and keep the rest of the pack at bay as almost half the grid was within DRS until lap 7, highlighting the competitive nature that gripped fans worldwide. Lindblad then commented that he went on to “settle into a rhythm” and ” just drove and cracked on with it” before Miyata began to struggle, provoking the attack by Lindblad behind.
Lindblad reflected on the progress being made after his consecutive sprint podium after winning the previous sprint race in Jeddah however picked out that he was “keen to start getting better in Sundays races” as that’s where he recognised the “real points are”.
Tomorrows feature race will be held at 10:00 track time.
Image: Formula 1/Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images
