F1 driver, 19, tries chicken rice at Maxwell Food Centre, but S’poreans can’t get over his fork
Formula 1 (F1) driver Arvid Lindblad may be used to handling a steering wheel, but it was his handling of a plastic fork while eating chicken rice at Maxwell Food Centre that caught the attention of Singaporeans.
The 19-year-old British-Swedish driver, who competed for Racing Bulls under the British flag at the Singapore Grand Prix from Oct 9 to 11, documented his visit to the hawker centre in a TikTok video uploaded on Oct 9.
The clip has since garnered more than 606,000 and 1,000 comments.
Eats chicken rice, seabass at Maxwell Food Centre
In the video, Lindblad tells the camera he is getting some “Singaporean food” before showing off his plate of roasted chicken rice.
“This is my one,” he says, before thanking the stallholder with a “Thank you, boss”.
He then sits at a table with his camera propped up, filming himself drizzling chilli sauce over his chicken rice before tucking into the meal with just a plastic fork.
“That’s very nice,” he says mid-meal, before adding that the chilli sauce is “pretty spicy”.
He also describes the chicken rice as “pretty normal Singaporean food”.
The video then cuts to Lindblad ordering another dish — seabass from the Fish Village stall at Maxwell Food Centre.
“I’m gonna love it? Okay,” he says, seemingly repeating the stallholder’s assurance that he will enjoy the dish.
When his order arrives, he remarks: “Awesome. Look at that.”
Lindblad returns to the table and tucks into his second dish.
He describes the fish as “very soft” and notes that it comes with plenty of sauce, but says he prefers the chicken rice.
Stomp has reached out to Lindblad for comment.
‘Use a spoon pls’: Netizens amused by F1 driver’s eating habits
Many netizens could not help but notice Lindblad eating his chicken rice with a fork.
“Arvid use a spoon pls,” one user wrote.
Another called Lindblad “so British” for eating rice with a fork.
Others praised his “great choices” of local dishes.
“Impressed how Arvid actually ordered like a local!” one commented.
Some users also poked fun at the video’s slightly blurry quality.
“Are you filming this using a vintage camera,” one quipped, while others urged Lindblad to wipe his camera lens.
One commenter appeared amused by the thought of unexpectedly running into an F1 driver at a hawker centre.
“Imagine being in a regular market on a regular Friday and you see a whole ass F1 driver,” the user wrote.
Difficult weekend at Singapore Grand Prix
Lindblad had a challenging race weekend, spinning at Turn 5 during Saturday’s sprint race before briefly driving in the wrong direction to turn his car around. The stewards investigated the incident but took no further action.
He finished 13th in the sprint and 15th in Sunday’s main race, later expressing disappointment with his performance and saying he hoped to reset ahead of the next race in Austin.
Singapore Grand Prix draws over 300,000 spectators
The 2026 F1 Singapore Grand Prix drew 301,294 spectators over the three-day race weekend, the event’s second-highest attendance on record and its highest since changes were made to the Marina Bay Street Circuit layout in 2023.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed his first Singapore Grand Prix victory, having also won the event’s inaugural sprint race on Oct 10.
Off the track, fans enjoyed performances by home-grown Mandopop star JJ Lin, American rock band The Killers and singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey.
Celebrities spotted at the event included Olympic freestyle skiing champion Eileen Gu, French footballer Paul Pogba, three-time NBA champion Dwyane Wade and reality TV star Kim Kardashian, who was there to support her boyfriend, F1 driver Lewis Hamilton.
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