Red Bull's next rising talent, Arvid Lindblad, has taken a significant step towards a future in Formula 1 by securing his super license.
With Liam Lawson stepping up to partner Max Verstappen at Red Bull this season and rookie Isack Hadjar replacing him at Racing Bulls, the Red Bull F1 program currently lacks a clear reserve driver for 2025.
However, Lindblad appears to be the leading candidate for that role.
The 17-year-old, who was born in Britain but has Swedish and Indian heritage, caught Red Bull's attention with an impressive debut Formula 3 season last year.
His performances earned him a rapid promotion to Formula 2 for 2025.
As part of his accelerated path to F1, Lindblad recently competed in the Formula Regional Oceania series in New Zealand, gaining enough points to secure a super license.
"Honestly, I don't know all the ins and outs of it," he admitted. "I was just told 'we want you to go to New Zealand, we want you to have the full super license before the start of the F1 season'.
"I am very aware that it is all good, but we know that the performance in F2 will dictate whether I get an F1 opportunity or not, so that's what I am focused on at the moment," Lindblad added.
Red Bull is also believed to be setting up a TPC (Testing of Previous Cars) program for Lindblad, allowing him to gain experience in a two-year-old F1 car in preparation for a potential promotion.
"He is definitely our greatest (new) talent," Red Bull advisor Dr. Helmut Marko said.
"He is definitely the one who is pushing himself from the back to the front of the queue with his performances."
Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Marko even described Lindblad as "the champion of tomorrow."
"What makes this guy exceptional is his pure speed," the 81-year-old stated. "We are looking for a new champion and he might have what it takes.
"In one of the Formula 3 races, he overtook 10 or 14 drivers in a single lap," Marko recalled. "He won the race starting last in difficult conditions of wet, dry and so on."
Marko has often emphasized that future champions are judged not just on their racing ability but also on how they carry themselves off-track.
Recalling his first encounter with Lindblad, the Austrian revealed:
"He and his father were there, but it was Arvid, even though he was only 12, who led the whole conversation.
"He already had a clear vision and a clear way to realise it, and since then he has moved forward steadily." body check tags ::
