"Very upset" passenger led to viral Racing Bulls EasyJet flight after Spa F1

Arvid Lindblad says he ended up sat next to his Racing Bulls Formula 1 team-mate Liam Lawson on an EasyJet flight from Belgium because of a “very upset” passenger in the wrong seat.

The Racing Bulls pair sparked a viral moment on social media after last week’s Belgian Grand Prix, when they were both pictured sat next to each other on a budget EasyJet flight.

F1 rookie Arvid Lindblad revealed on Thursday at the Hungarian Grand Prix that the moment was the result of a passenger being sat in the seat he was booked on.

The Briton says she was “very upset” at the thought of having to move from the aisle seat, so elected to take the middle spot next to Liam Lawson.

“Yeah, it was good. I've not got much money, so I'm still going on the normal commercial flights,” Lindblad said.

“But there's nothing wrong with that. I've done that [for] everything up until now.

“There's no reason why that... If I can save a bit of money, I might as well save some money, even if I have more now. So, I’m very happy going on EasyJet.”

Asked if it was planned for the pair to be on the same row, he added: “I mean, the team likes to put us near each other.

“I mean, one's not going to be in row one, the other in row 27; that's a bit rude.

“So we were meant to be 3D and 3F. And the woman was very upset when I said I was in the aisle.

“And I was just like, ‘If you want to stay there, I can go in E’. So yeah, me and Liam were sitting next to each other.”

Lawson said of the moment: “It was a good flight. It was like two hours delayed, so I think we took off at midnight.

“It was a late night, but it was okay. Arvid was sitting in the middle, so I got the window. It was alright.

“Quite often [I fly commercial], I would say, when there's... I mean, Nice is a hard place to fly to.

“There’s sometimes not direct flights or not business flights. It’s alright.

“We were at, like, three or four rows back. We weren't way in the back of the plane, so it was alright. And Arvid was sitting in the middle, so…”

Asked if the passenger knew who he was, he replied: "If she did, she didn't like me!"

Lindblad “positively surprised” by team-mate relationship

Lindblad says the viral EasyJet moment was indicative of his “really good relationship” with Lawson, which he admits has been a surprise.

He says his surprise stems from Drive to Survive making it “a bit worse than it sometimes is” between drivers.

“We honestly have a really good relationship,” he said.

‘I think for me, I've honestly been positively surprised in that sense because, you know, when you're younger, you see so much; I think Netflix also make it a bit worse than it sometimes is. 

“But there's lots of this sort of stuff. But honestly, we get along really well, and I have a lot of respect for Liam for that, you know?

“We raced hard in Spa, and as soon as we saw each other after the race, he told me well done and a good race.

“And I think that was really impressive from him. And I've always tried to do the same, you know, when I struggled in qualifying, and he was in Q3, I told him well done when I saw him.

“And I think we've been getting that balance on and off track really good.

“And yes, when we're in the car, we fight hard, um, but off the track, we have a good relationship.

“We get along well. For sure, some of the TikTok challenges we do helps that bond.

“So, we did talk about it, and in the end, when we—when we're out the car, we're normal guys. We don't really care.”