Junior programmes have long played a part in many drivers reaching F1, especially Red Bull who are entering their 17th season in the series this year as we look back at their eight junior graduates.
From flops like Christian Klien to successes in Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen, Red Bull have certainly established themselves as a strong base for young drivers looking to rise up to F1 with their Junior Team.
This season sees another junior member in Yuki Tsunoda join AlphaTauri but as he looks to become the ninth driver to potentially make a full graduation to Red Bull in coming seasons, we look at the stories of the eight previous full graduates and where they’re currently.
Christian Klien (2005-06)
Christian Klien was one of Red Bull’s first-ever F1 graduates having enjoyed a successful junior career before joining F1 with Jaguar in 2004, prior to Red Bull joining the sport a year later in which he became one of their race drivers.
Across his two seasons at Red Bull, Klien only amassed 11 points across 29 races before he was released, signing with Honda in 2007 as Test Driver as he switched focus to sportscar racing and has since spent recent years in GT Racing where he finished second in the Pro-Am category in 2020.
Vitantonio Liuzzi (2005)
Vitantonio Liuzzi only drove four races for Red Bull in 2005 after signing as the then reigning International Formula 3000 champion, yet found himself on Test Driver duty for much of the season despite replacing Klien briefly mid-season.
2006-07 saw Luizzi spend two seasons at Toro Rosso where he only amassed four points and was dropped in 2008, forcing him to race elsewhere before returning in 2009 with Force India for two seasons.
Sadly his time at the team only yielded 21 points which all came in 2010 only to find himself dropped, leaving him with a HRT drive in 2011 where he struggled at the rear in what would be his last F1 season.
Liuzzi proceeded to move on in 2012 as he joined World Endurance Championship as well as International and Italian Superstar series, whilst also dabbling in Formula E between 2014-15 with Trulli GP who folded in December 2015.
Since 2016, Liuzzi hasn’t raced professionally with exception of 2020 Virtual Spanish Grand Prix where he represented AlphaTauri.
Sebastian Vettel (2009-14)
Sebastian Vettel is Red Bull’s only F1 world champion after enjoying a successful rise through their academy, which saw him loaned out to BMW Sauber for 2006-07 seasons where he drove for the team in 2007 USA Grand Prix and finished eighth to pick up his first F1 point.
Vettel soon found himself in a Toro Rosso to replace Scott Speed for rest of season and for 2008, where he went on to enjoy success with his maiden win in 2008 Italian Grand Prix.
A move to Red Bull swiftly followed in 2009 to replace the retired David Coulthard where he picked up four wins, before proceeding to take four consecutive titles of which he had to fight to the final races in 2010 and 12 respectively either side of two dominant seasons in 2011 and 2013.
2014 saw Vettel stunned by new teammate, Daniel Ricciardo which played a factor in the German’s departure to Ferrari where he collected 14 race victories in six seasons, although he only managed one podium in 2020 as he recorded his worst F1 championship finish of 13th as a full-time driver.
2021 sees Vettel move to Aston Martin where he will partner Lance Stroll with his predecessor – Sergio Perez now driving for Red Bull.
Daniel Ricciardo (2014-18)
Daniel Ricciardo has proven to be one of Red Bull’s most consistent drivers in F1 even though he failed to win a championship with the team like many drivers past and present failed to do.
After enjoying a solid junior career, Ricciardo began his F1 career on loan at HRT for 11 races during the 2011 season before being promoted at Toro Rosso to a race seat, where he and Vergne were closely matched for much of their two seasons together.
2014 saw Ricciardo selected to replace his Australian counterpart, Mark Webber at Red Bull where he stunned new teammate – Vettel with three wins to the German’s none and finished 71 points clear of his teammate in third.
2015-18 though saw Ricciardo forced to play the no.1 role to Daniil Kvyat then Max Verstappen, although it became evident towards the end of the Aussie’s time at the team that Verstappen was their preferred driver moving forward.
Ricciardo though enjoyed strong success in Monaco for Red Bull with four podiums in five visits, of which 2018 saw him take victory in the Principality from pole – two years after a pit crew error cost him the win from pole position.
Ricciardo since spent two seasons with Renault in which he collected two third-place finishes at Nurburgring then Imola last season, and is currently preparing for his first season at McLaren after agreeing a switch during the worldwide Coronavirus induced lockdown.
Daniil Kvyat (2015-16)
Daniil Kvyat has certainly enjoyed a rough relationship with Red Bull after enjoying a strong junior campaign, which saw him win the GP3 title in 2013 only to be promoted straight into F1 at Toro Rosso for 2014.
A shock move to Red Bull in 2015 quickly followed after his rookie F1 season to replace Vettel where he showed strong consistency in a disappointing car, as he beat Ricciardo by three points to finish the season in 7th alongside his maiden F1 podium which came in Hungary that year.
2016 saw the Russian continue to show his potential until a racing incident in which he twice struck Vettel’s Ferrari in Sochi made the team demote him back to Toro Rosso, where he hit a slump with just eight points in 31 races before being sacked after Singapore in 2017.
Kvyat however received a brief reprieve for that season’s US GP to replace Carlos Sainz who had departed for Renault on loan, finishing tenth before being dropped from the Red Bull programme.
2018 saw Kvyat join Ferrari as their third driver before once again being handed a second chance at Toro Rosso in 2019, where he finished third in a wet German GP and stayed with the team as they rebranded to AlphaTauri in 2020 but a poor run of form cost him his seat despite improving towards end of season.
Max Verstappen (2016-present)
As the son of ex F1 driver – Jos Verstappen, Max enjoyed a dominant debut single-seater season in 2014 to propel himself straight into F1, starting with a FP1 run in Japan at Toro Rosso where he become the youngest-ever driver to participate in a F1 session on a Grand Prix weekend.
2015 saw Max partner Sainz at Toro Rosso in which he recorded a pair of fourth-placed finishes en route to 12th in the standings, as he finished 31 points clear of Sainz.
Verstappen then made a strong start in 2016 which was rewarded with a promotion to Red Bull after Russia, where he stunned the world to become F1’s youngest-ever race winner on his debut for the senior team.
Verstappen has since gone on to record ten victories for the team whilst comfortably beating his two recent teammates – Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon, whilst finishing third in each of last two seasons and extended his contract at end of 2019 until the conclusion of 2023 season.
Pierre Gasly (2019)
Pierre Gasly has certainly had his ups and down with Red Bull despite enjoying a successful junior career under the team’s backing with 2016 GP2 title amongst many highlights.
Parachuted into Toro Rosso in Autumn 2017 to replace Kvyat for five races, Gasly showed strong consistency which he struggled to take into a full rookie season in 2018 despite finishing fourth in Bahrain.
Ricciardo’s departure however added further pressure to Gasly’s F1 rise as he was promoted into the senior team after just one full season in the sport, which was a move that backfired as he struggled to match Verstappen and got lapped by his teammate in Austria despite often scoring points.
Red Bull eventually moved him back to Toro Rosso where he found form quickly with a points finish in Belgium – his first race back with the team, before clinching a podium in Brazil at end of that season as he took his newfound confidence into 2020 with his maiden F1 win at Monza under AlphaTauri rebrand.
Gasly now will race with AlphaTauri again in 2021 but will have a new teammate in Yuki Tsunoda to battle against if he is to secure a potential Red Bull return in 2022.
Alexander-Albon (2019-present)
Having only had one season worth of backing from Red Bull in 2012, Alex Albon certainly stands out from many other graduates in that from 2013-18, he had to fight his way up the motorsport ladder without any F1 backing.
2018 in particular saw Albon impress in F2 to finish third at a time when Toro Rosso were struggling to pull together a lineup of new graduates, with Albon instead pulling out of Formula E plans to make the step up to F1 instead alongside Kvyat who returned to the team after an one-season absence.
Albon’s rookie F1 season often saw him in the mix for lower points finishes with exception of Germany, where he showed surprise pace in wet conditions to finish sixth ahead of a sudden promotion to Red Bull two races later to replace Gasly.
Pressure though was an issue for the Thai driver as like Gasly, he struggled to provide Verstappen with real competition throughout his time at the team despite showing more consistency and collecting two third-placed finishes in 2020.
Albon consequently lost his race seat to Perez although he will remain with the team as Test and Reserve Driver for 2021, whilst also participating in selected DTM races throughout the year.
Leave a Reply