Arvid Lindblad was delighted to claim the final point on offer in the Sprint at the Canadian Grand Prix, with the Racing Bulls driver crossing the line as ‘best of the rest’ in P8.
After making it through to the top-10 shootout during Friday’s Sprint Qualifying, Lindblad lined up in ninth on the grid for Saturday’s 100km dash, just behind the Red Bull of Isack Hadjar.
With Hadjar experiencing an issue that forced him out of the running during the opening stages of the Sprint – though he later rejoined at the back of the field – Lindblad moved up to eighth and held on to seal a point.
This also marks the first time that the Briton has completed a Sprint, having retired from China’s event while he did not start at the last Saturday race in Miami.
Asked after the Sprint in Montreal about how satisfied he was with his result, Lindblad explained: “Yeah, obviously very happy. I think that was the most achievable coming into the race today.
“I think we knew that maybe if I could grab a spot on Lap 1, it was about hanging on. That didn’t happen and unfortunately Isack had the problem, but I think there was no more available so I’m very happy to take a point.”
On the other side of the garage at Racing Bulls, Liam Lawson started the Sprint from back in P18, having been forced to miss Sprint Qualifying on Friday due to a hydraulic leak on his car being unable to be repaired in time.
The New Zealander managed to make gains come Saturday, however, and was content with what he achieved after taking P11.
“I got some laps down, which was good, and the car seems quite fast as well so [we were] obviously trying to protect it as well, knowing that we have Qualifying this afternoon,” said Lawson.
“But it was okay, we moved forwards. Obviously Quali’s going to be very different, the way we drive the car, but I think it would have helped me at least a little bit.”