British newcomer Arvid Lindblad, racing his Racing Bulls crashed his car during the Friday practice session at the Spanish Grand Prix following a blistering fourth fastest time.
At 19 years old, Lindblad lost control entering Turn 13 and went sideways into the barrier, causing damage to both his front and rear suspension and his front wing.
Racing Bulls driver Arvid Lindblad collided into the barriers during FP2 in Madrid 👀
🚩The red flag was deployed causing all other drivers to head back to the paddock#F1 #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/mZWmMJ8p0H
— SleeperF1 (@SleeperF1) September 11, 2026
Lindblad finished the practice session as the fourth fastest driver, 0.228s off the pace of the pace-setting Kimi Antonelli on his Mercedes in Madrid.
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton for Ferrari completed the top three on the timesheets, each around 0.1s slower than Antonelli.
Antonelli’s teammate George Russell, who is 66 points behind in the championship standings, finished fifth fastest ahead of Max Verstappen in a Red Bull and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
World champion Lando Norris did not complete a lap in his McLaren due to a gearbox issue.
Although Lindblad’s crash was the only one of the day in Formula 1 action, it certainly served to validate some of Russell’s earlier comments before the practice sessions regarding the “less margin” in the new Madring circuit than in Monaco.
Russell added: “In Monaco, the walls are closer, but because you’re going far slower, if you make a mistake, you’re not into the wall as quickly, and you can recover it sometimes, a small lock-up.
“There’s a lot of really fast corners, but the barrier is kind of like coming back on to the track. So, if you are to go wide and hit the wall, you’re not hitting it kind of at the same angle as the car is going. The wall is sort of coming in at you.”
Russell singled out Turns Five, Seven and 17, where Leclerc went off into the run-off area at Turn 17.
Russell said: “Another element of the challenge here, which probably won’t cause major crashes, but I think there’ll be a lot of lock-ups.
“You’ve got three corners where you’re turning and braking, and if you lock up, the wall is right in front of you, which is very reminiscent of the corner in Baku, Turn 15. You know, the one down the hill where a lot of people go off.”
