Milton Keynes karting track where F1 driver Arvid Lindblad raced as a child
Daytona in Milton Keynes is highlighting the importance of grassroots motorsport ahead of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone
A karting track in Milton Keynes, where Formula One driver Arvid Lindblad raced as a six-year-old, is highlighting the importance of grassroots motorsport ahead of the British Grand Prix.
Arvid Lindblad from Virginia Water in Surrey, is preparing for his first ever home race in F1 after making the step up to the “pinnacle” of the sport this season with Racing Bulls.
The rookie driver raced at Daytona in Milton Keynes from the age of six where he developed some of his motorsport skills.
Daytona says it's "amazing to see" Lindblad’s journey to the top.
Head of Marketing, Dan Prince said: “Arvid is someone that's recently burst onto the scene and he is probably our most current and most high-profile success story.
“He's come back a few times over the years, and he's taken an incredible route into motorsport; now at the pinnacle in F1 aged 18.”
Around one-quarter of the grid will be competing on home soil at Silverstone this weekend, which shows “we've just got such a brilliant grassroots motorsport in the UK - places where people can actually train in the sport, get really good, and go all the way.”
Mr Price said: “I almost guarantee that one of the kids that's racing with us today will go on and become somebody in motorsport. It happens every generation.”
Many F1 drivers have visited the MK track
Daytona in Milton Keynes has welcomed many other F1 drivers to its track, including the likes of Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Isak Hadjar, and Yuki Tsunoda.
Mr Price says, “we've seen more of the grid here than we haven't”.
Most recently, Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli managed to go undetected, driving under a different name, and finished third.
Dan Prince said: “He went into the briefing room, low profile in the corner, no one noticed him.”
“Technically he won the race, but he pushed it far too hard. He got, two or three penalties - speeding under yellows and pushing track limits - so whilst he won, he actually finished in third.”
“The story went super viral; we got picked up by international media. And then he came back about two weeks later, he brought his team with him.”