Racing
© Jonathan Borba
Arvid Lindblad will start Saturday’s Miami Sprint from the pit lane after the FIA ruled that Racing Bulls breached Article B3.4.2 a) by failing to cover car 41 after Sprint Qualifying.
The penalty wipes out the grid position Lindblad had earned on track and leaves the 18-year-old facing a recovery drive before the Sprint has even begun. He had originally finished 16th in SQ1, then moved up to 15th after Alex Albon received a penalty, but that place is now gone under the sanction applied to Racing Bulls.
In its ruling, the FIA said: “Not covering the car after a Sprint Qualifying session is a breach of Article B3.4.2 a).” It added: “Therefore, car 41 should now be required to start the Sprint from the pit lane according to Article B3.5.3 b) of the 2026 Formula 1 Sporting Regulations.”
That decision also reshuffles the order around Lindblad, with every driver who had been behind him on the Sprint grid gaining one position.
The FIA’s explanation also addressed a separate matter involving Racing Bulls personnel being inside the circuit during a protected period. The governing body said team personnel were within the confines of the circuit during the “twelve (12) hours and fourtysix (46) minutes period” that began at 20:14 on 01 May, fifteen hours and fourtysix minutes before the scheduled start time of P3, and ended three hours before the Sprint at 09:00 on 02 May.
On that point, the FIA said it counted as Racing Bulls’ first of four permitted exceptions during the 2026 season and concluded that “therefore no action should be taken.” The pit-lane start instead stems specifically from the failure to cover Lindblad’s car after Sprint Qualifying.
For Lindblad, the punishment is a significant blow because it came from a procedural error rather than anything he did in the session itself. Instead of lining up from P15, he will now start outside the traditional grid and try to salvage his Miami Sprint from the pit lane.