Britain’s Arvid Lindblad – one of single seater racing’s most outstanding young prospects – will make his New Zealand and Castrol Toyota FR Oceania Championship debut at the Taupo Motorsport Park next month.
Red Bull F1 team junior Lindblad is a big-name addition to the 2025 championship and has a remarkable record in karting and in junior formulae. He will join the championship’s most successful team – M2 Competition – for the five-weekend competition which concludes with the 69th New Zealand Grand Prix at Highlands Motorsport Park in NZ’s South Island.
The seventeen-year-old will be the latest Red Bull Junior to compete in the New Zealand championship, a roster than includes names like Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda and Dannil Kvyatt.
Lindblad has been competitive and a winner in almost every motorsport championship he has competed in. He was a multiple international karting champion and a winner in Italian F4, F4 UAE, Euro 4, and Formula Regional Middle East. He also won the Macau GP in 2023.
In 2024 he finished fourth overall in the FIA F3 Championship with four wins – one in Bahrain, one in Spain and two at Silverstone at the British Grand Prix round.
For 2025 he’ll be stepping up again to a full season of FIA Formula 2 with Campos Racing and he says the trip to New Zealand and a competitive FR Oceania championship will be the best preparation for the step up to F2.
“I’m really excited to be competing in the FR Oceania championship with M2 Competition. The team has been incredibly successful in the past winning many of the recent championships so there is no one better to be with.
“It’ll be my first time in New Zealand so all the tracks will be new but I am really looking forward to the challenge of these fantastic circuits. The championship has been very successful with many competitors making it to Formula 1; therefore it’ll be great winter preparation for the Formula 2 Championship this year. I can’t wait to get started.”
M2 Competition boss Jonathan Moury says Lindblad’s inclusion in the team adds significantly to what is already a high-quality grid featuring champions and winners from junior formulae, as well as Will brown the current Australian Supercars champion.
“We are proud to have Arvid Lindblad join M2 Competition for the Formula Regional Oceania season.” he said.
“His progression from Formula 3 to Formula 2 next year highlights the calibre of talent we can attract and develop in this series. It’s a testament to how valuable Formula Regional Oceania is for preparing drivers for the highest levels of motorsport. We are incredibly grateful to the Red Bull Formula 1 team for entrusting us with supporting Arvid’s journey.”
The championship features grids of up to 20 cars and has produced countless talent that has gone on to excel in Formula One, Indycar, GTs, World Endurance and most other major motorsport codes. This year – the 20th anniversary of the championship – it runs as part of the exciting new NextGen-promoted summer championships series in New Zealand.
