Red Bull Junior Team: Difference between revisions
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==Former drivers== |
==Former drivers== |
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Revision as of 10:15, 19 May 2014
The Red Bull Junior Team is a program run by the energy drink company Red Bull GmbH in an attempt to identify potential future racing stars in open wheel racing. The similar Red Bull Driver Search, now ended, was an American spinoff of the same idea. Members of the Junior Team are financed and sponsored by Red Bull in lower racing formulae.
The programs have been successful in bringing a selection of drivers into Formula One. However, only one of them (Sebastian Vettel) has won a Formula One race. Red Bull owns two teams in Formula One, Infiniti Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso.
The Red Bull Junior Team was also the official name of RSM Marko, a team that competed in International Formula 3000 between 1999 and 2003, sponsored by Red Bull and run by Helmut Marko.
The Red Bull Junior Team was formed in 2001 as Red Bull's European driver programme. Red Bull offers funding and support for the promising young drivers that are part of the programme. In 2004, Christian Klien became the first Red Bull Junior to race in Formula One, while in 2008, Sebastian Vettel became the first Red Bull Junior to win a Formula One Grand Prix, the Italian Grand Prix.
Current drivers
(Updated December 18, 2013, with 2014 season information[1]
| Driver | Years | Current Series | Titles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Pierre Gasly
|
2014 | Formula Renault 3.5 Series | Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Carlos Sainz, Jr.
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2010–14 | Formula Renault 3.5 Series | Formula Renault 2.0 NEC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Alex Lynn
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2014 | GP3 Series | Formula Renault UK | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jann Mardenborough
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2014 | GP3 Series | >
Former driversGraduated to Formula One_in_practice_at_USGP_2005.jpg)
Graduates rundownThe scheme has been successful, with several of the drivers backed by Red Bull making it into Formula One:
As well as these, Red Bull supports many up-and-coming young drivers:
In 2004 Red Bull bought Jaguar Racing and renamed the team Red Bull Racing for the 2005 Formula One season. This offered an easy way in to Formula One for Red Bull Junior Team's drivers. Red Bull Driver SearchRed Bull Driver Search was an American scheme run from 2002 to 2005 in parallel with the Red Bull Junior Team. Its aim was "Searching for the future American F1 Champion".[3] Another goal was to create "the first ever All-American Formula 1 team." There has been one clear star of Red Bull Driver Search: Scott Speed. After being one of four winners of the 2002 Red Bull Driver Search,[4] Speed went on to compete in British Formula 3, before winning the German and Eurocup Formula Renault Championships. In 2005, Speed impressed onlookers with his performances in the GP2 Series and, after a short stint in A1 Grand Prix for A1 Team USA, Speed drove for Scuderia Toro Rosso in Formula One in the 2006 and 2007 seasons. Red Bull Driver Search formally concluded on 17 October 2005.[5] Part of the reason it concluded is because Scott Speed, a Driver Search participant, successfully made it to Formula One.[6] A victim of its own success?Many talented drivers have risen through the ranks of Red Bull's driver programmes — so many, in fact, that Red Bull did not have the space to bring all of their best drivers into Formula One. In the 2005 Formula One season the second Red Bull Racing seat was shared between Christian Klien and Vitantonio Liuzzi, with the drivers swapping between races. To further complicate matters, Scott Speed was vying for a place in Formula One but had to make do with being a non-racing third driver. To solve this problem, in late 2005, Red Bull purchased the Minardi team to help promote more of its drivers into Formula One.[7] Red Bull described the new outfit as a "Rookie Team", and renamed it as Scuderia Toro Rosso, Italian simply for "Team Red Bull". Liuzzi and Speed drove the cars for the 2006 and 2007 Formula One seasons. Sebastian Vettel replaced Speed permanently at Toro Rosso 3/4ths of the way through the 2007 season.[8] Sebastian Vettel and Sebastien Bourdais were the drivers for Toro Rosso in 2008. The team scored its first victory at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, with Vettel never leaving the first position during the race. In 2009, Vettel moved from Toro Rosso to Red Bull's main team.[9] He was succeeded at Scuderia Toro Rosso by Swiss driver Sebastian Buemi, also part of the Red Bull Junior Team. Midway through 2009, the underperforming Bourdais was replaced by Jaime Alguersuari, another product of the Red Bull Junior Team, and his partnership with Buemi remained intact until the end of 2011. This officiency of drivers and the lack of F1 capacity was again shown during the 2011 season when Red Bull essentially rented a seat at back markers Hispania Racing for their Australian junior and 2010 Formula Renault 3.5 season runner up Daniel Ricciardo for the last 11 races of the season. Buemi and Alguersuari both were replaced at Toro Rosso for the 2012 Formula One season by Ricciardo and 2011 Formula Renault season runner up Jean-Eric Vergne, the duo have both retained their seat for the 2013 season. References
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