Lindblad pleased with ‘gamble’ and Lusail recovery with Campos

Arvid Lindblad was able to turn a tricky Lusail weekend around on Sunday, claiming P4 in the Feature Race with an audacious final stint and defensive effort.

The Campos Racing driver started from P17 on the grid and opted for the alternative strategy, starting on the Hard compound tyre with the plan of taking it long into the race.

However, a mid-race Safety Car opened up the chance for a less costly pitstop, but meant an early switch to the Softs. He rejoined in a net third-place and fought hard to get his tyres to the end and retain a top five result on an unlikely strategy.

Speaking in the paddock afterwards, Lindblad said he was pleased he and the team opted to go aggressive and have it pay off with a strong result.

“Yeah it was pretty good today. We rolled the dice on the alternative strategy and to be honest, when I saw the Safety Car, I didn’t know whether to be happy or sad. 18 laps to go and to take the Soft tyres the whole way I knew would be a really big challenge.

“I did a good job, the car was good, and we were able to hang on really well. Still had decent pace at the end, so it played out really well.”

Explaining the thinking behind the decision to pit, Lindblad explained that whilst the pre-race plan for Campos had been to box later in the race, the lesser time loss relative to a stop under full racing conditions warranted the risk.

READ MORE: Thoughts of a Champion - Leonardo Fornaroli

“It was pretty reactive. I think we said before the race that Lap 18 was the earliest we could box, and I think it was Lap 13/14 when it came out. There was the chance of a second Safety Car, but we were so far back, we took the gamble. It all worked out in the end which is nice.”

In the end, Lindblad had rejoined in the pack in a position that put him third on the road of those who had made their mandatory pitstops, but with the big task of making it to the end on his Soft tyres.

Though he ultimately lost a spot to Alexander Dunne in the closing laps, it was an impressive drive, and he says that he was happy to have finished the Lusail weekend on the front foot.

“Initially I was a bit lost, I didn’t know where I was in the order. But when I saw I was net P3, I wanted to stay there. I tried the best I could with Alex to hold him up because I needed to in order to retain the clean air.

“It was a bit of a shame in the end. He had good pace at the end, and he was able to pip me. But it was a good race. Every weekend is different, but it was nice to finish this weekend well.”