Lindblad starts last after Racing Bulls grid penalty
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 1, 2026
Lindblad penalty
Arvid Lindblad will start from the back of the grid at the Malaysian Grand Prix after Racing Bulls fitted multiple new power unit components to his car. The change pushed his parts beyond the season allocation and triggered an automatic grid penalty, leaving the 19-year-old to begin from the worst possible spot for his Formula 1 debut at Sepang International Circuit. The penalty came down Thursday at Sepang and stands apart from his Turn 1 collision with teammate Liam Lawson. Stewards reviewed that incident and said no further action was required, which left the grid drop as the only sanction attached to Lindblad’s car change. That split matters because it keeps the mechanical penalty and the racing incident in separate lanes. Lindblad now heads into his first Formula 1 start at a circuit he had not raced before, with the pressure of a debut already in place and the added burden of a last-place start on top of it.
Sepang debut
Lindblad’s weekend at Sepang carried extra weight before the penalty was announced. He was preparing for his Formula 1 debut at a track he had never raced, and he was one of 12 current drivers in that category. That detail underlines how little recent experience he had at the Malaysian venue before taking the wheel for Racing Bulls. A debut at Sepang International Circuit already demands quick adaptation, and a start from the back makes that task harder. Every early lap matters more when a driver has to work through traffic instead of building into the race from the front half of the field. The penalty does not change the fact that Lindblad still gets his first Formula 1 outing, but it changes the terms of it. He has to make the most of whatever pace the car gives him, recover ground after the lights go out and do it without the cushion that a normal grid slot provides. The sequence leaves Racing Bulls with a driver making his first start under a heavy handicap.
Colapinto penalty
Franco Colapinto will also take a grid penalty in Malaysia, and his sanction is a drop of five places on the grid. His penalty follows a collision with Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris in Baku, which links his setback to a separate race weekend and a separate incident. That gives Malaysia two drivers facing penalties before the action even begins, with Lindblad starting from the back and Colapinto losing five places. The pair of penalties shapes the lower half of the grid and gives both drivers added work before the race settles into its rhythm. Colapinto’s situation is less severe than Lindblad’s, but it still alters his starting position and his opening laps. In a field where track position matters from the start, any grid loss changes the race plan. Malaysia will ask both drivers to chase from behind, and each will have to manage the race with less room to spare than they would have had with a clean start.
