Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad celebrates Indian roots at Red Bull Moto Jam following grandmother’s puja

Arvid Lindblad was in India on Sunday for the Red Bull Moto Jam, a week before he makes his much-anticipated Formula 1 debut. Born to a mother of Indian origin, Lindblad has been picked by Racing Bulls as an F1 rookie this season. The 18-year-old was on a promotional campaign for Red Bull and put on a great show to set the mood for a potential Indian Grand Prix. He waved the tricolor and interacted with Indian F1 fans, besides doing some donuts in his F1 car at the India Expo Centre & Mart in Greater Noida.

F1 rookie Arvid Lindblad waves tricolor at Red Bull Moto Jam after grandmother’s puja

Arvid Lindblad shared a video in which his maternal grandmother fed him sweet curd for good luck and applied a tika on his forehead. She also put a black dot behind his ear to ward off the evil eye.

Reacting to the video, a fan wrote: “Never thought I'd see ‘nani’ on an F1 team's content.”

Another video showed him taking a tour of the track while sitting on a staff member’s shoulders with the tricolor in his hand. He also performed some impressive donuts on the track amid loud cheers from the crowd and interacted with fans while recording them on his phone. Since the event was held just three days before Holi, a fan called it the “best kind of Holi concert” in reaction to the video he shared.

Arvid Lindblad on growing up amid Indian traditions

Arvid Lindblad had visited India Gate and a local market before the event. Talking about his connection with his mom’s side of the family, he told NDTV Sports, “I'm very proud of my roots. I've really enjoyed the past couple of years when I've come to India to explore that side of my heritage and my background a bit more.”

“I mean, I've been brought up with many Indian traditions and the general culture, eating Indian food and celebrating pujas, all these kinds of things from an early age. So for me, when I've come to India, it's always been very exciting, even just to see how similar my upbringing was,” he added.

About the objective behind his latest India trip, he revealed, “(The Indian Grand Prix) has been a bit of a topic in the last week or so. Obviously, it's very exciting for me as well. As someone of Indian heritage, I'd be very excited to have an F1 race in India. Let's see what happens.”

Lindblad will compete in his maiden F1 race at the Australian Grand Prix. It is scheduled for March 8 if things fall into place amid the rising travel issues being faced by F1 teams and staff due to the war in the Middle East. The 18-year-old will also be competing against his idol, Lewis Hamilton, on track. He has also been spending a lot of time with Max Verstappen during Red Bull and Racing Bulls’ joint campaigns.

He is a protege of Formula E World Champion Oliver Rowland, who will accompany him to the season’s opening races to support him.

Also read: “You don’t have a license?” Max Verstappen bursts into laughter at Arvid Lindblad’s surprise admission



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