Red Bull Junior Team
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The Red Bull Junior Team is a program run by the energy drink company Red Bull 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; Scott Speed is a protege of that scheme.
Members of the Junior Team are financed and often also sponsored by Red Bull in lower racing formulae.
The driver development program has been successful in bringing a selection of drivers into Formula One. However, only one of them (Sebastian Vettel) has won a Formula One race. Many others have third driver testing positions in the series with various teams.
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[edit] Red Bull Junior Team
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Red Bull Junior Team is Red Bull's European driver programme. Red Bull offers funding and support for promising young drivers. The company also sponsors several racing teams and drivers, particularly in the GP2 Series, the Formula One "feeder series".
The scheme has been successful, with several of the drivers backed by Red Bull making it into Formula One:
- Enrique Bernoldi — raced for Arrows and was briefly a test driver for British American Racing.
- Robert Doornbos - raced for Minardi and Red Bull Racing.
- Patrick Friesacher — raced for Minardi.
- Narain Karthikeyan — raced for Jordan and was a test driver for Williams between 2006-2008.
- Christian Klien — raced for Jaguar Racing and Red Bull Racing, and is now a test driver for BMW.
- Vitantonio Liuzzi — raced for Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso and previously attracted the attention of Ferrari after dominant performances in Formula 3000, and is now the second driver for the Force India F1 team teaming with Adrian Sutil after the departure of Giancarlo Fisichella's departure to Ferrari.
- Sebastian Vettel - currently a Red Bull Racing driver , replacing David Coulthard. Previously was a test driver for BMW Sauber, and raced for Carlin Motorsport in the World Series by Renault in 2007.
- Scott Speed - raced for Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2006 and 2007. Now races the #82 Red Bull Racing Team Toyota Camary in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in the US.
As well as these, Red Bull supports many up-and-coming young drivers:
- Jaime Alguersuari -signed with Scuderia Toro Rosso subtituting Sébastien Bourdais for the rest of the 2009 season, he won British F3 in 2008 and he is also driving in World Series by Renault.
- Mikhail Aleshin - currently racing in the World Series by Renault with Carlin Motorsport.
- Michael Ammermüller - raced in the GP2 Series with ART.
- Sébastien Buemi - recently signed with Scuderia Toro Rosso for a 2009 race seat, he has participated in the GP2 Series Asia and GP2 Series for Trust Team Arden and in A1 Grand Prix with A1 Team Switzerland, as back-up to fellow Red Bull Junior Team driver Jani.
- Karun Chandhok - currently racing in the GP2 Series.
- Colin Fleming - raced in the World Series by Renault with Carlin Motorsport.
- Brendon Hartley - Won the 2007 Formula Renault Europe at 17 and in 2008 races British Formula Three with Carlin Motorsport.
- Neel Jani - a test driver for Sauber, Red Bull Racing, and now Toro Rosso, whilst also representing Switzerland in A1 Grand Prix.
- Daniel Ricciardo - Australia driver, winner of the 2009 British Formula Three season with Carlin Motorsport.
- Adrian Zaugg - raced in World Series by Renault for Carlin Motorsport for a part-season and is currently racing in A1 Grand Prix for South Africa.
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.
[edit] Red Bull Driver Search
Red 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".[1] 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[2], 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.[3] Part of the reason it concluded is because Scott Speed, a Driver Search participant, successfully made it to Formula One.[4]
[edit] 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 due 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.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7] He was succeeded at Scuderia Toro Rosso by Swiss driver Sebastian Buemi, also part of the Red Bull Junior Team.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.redbulldriversearch.com/assets/pdf/2002_RBDS2_%2007June.pdf
- ^ Red Bull Driver Search (official website), 2002 History. http://www.redbulldriversearch.com/history.php?view=2002
- ^ Red Bull Driver Search
- ^ Red Bull Racing Driver Search, Program Explanation, http://www.redbulldriversearch.com/program.php
- ^ BBC SPORT - Red Bull swoop for Minardi deal
- ^ "U.S. driver Scott Speed dropped by Toro Rosso, replaced by Sebastian Vettel". Associated Press. 31 July 2007. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/31/sports/EU-SPT-CAR-F1-Speed-Dropped.php. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
- ^ 18 July 2008, Formula1.com (Official Formula One series website), "Exclusive interview - Red Bull-bound Sebastian Vettel" http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews/2008/7/8102.html
