Christian Klien has described as “a bit strange” Red Bull’s decision for 2007 to scrap its policy of racing young racers.
First with personal sponsorship at Jaguar, the 23-year-old headlined Red Bull’s F1 foray between 2004 and 2006, but last year fell out with the energy drink company over its decision to sign Mark Webber for 2007.
30-year-old Webber’s teammate this season is David Coulthard, the oldest driver on the grid.
“Before, via their young driver programme, they supported young drivers into F1,” Austrian Klien, who is now Honda’s primary test driver, told F1 Racing.
“So I guess it’s a bit strange that they now have, let’s say, two – er – very experienced drivers.”
Red Bull scrapped its F1 ‘Driver Search’ in late 2005, but still operates the ‘Red Bull Junior Team’ programme, of which sometime F1 tester Michael Ammermuller is a star pupil.
GMMF1
DailyF1News.com
