Red Bull, a brand as synonymous with motor racing as energy drinks these days, has signed up a promising young Irish driver to its Junior Driver Team.
16-year-old Fionn McLaughlin, who comes from Magherafelt, near Derry, will join the Red Bull Junior Driver Team. The team runs a group of nine aspiring 15- to 19-year-old racers in the Junior Formula Series.
Crikey, they start them young these days!
They do indeed, but it goes back a bit further than ‘these days’. The Red Bull Junior Driver team has been in place since 2001 as a way of helping to find and fund the most promising new talents in motor racing. Part of the process includes the Red Bull Driver Search, which, over the years, has discovered the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, and Max Verstappen.
This year, the Driver Search invited 11 candidates aged between 13 and 16 from the UK, Ireland, France, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Lebanon, and Mexico to test at the Jerez circuit in Spain. They would be put through their paces in open-wheel F4 and GP3 racing cars in a shootout format.
Who makes the decisions on which driver goes through?
The test was overseen by the gimlet eye of Dr Helmut Marko, a former Le Mans winner and best known these days as being the Red Bull F1 team’s take-no-prisoners consultant. Marko said: “What is important here is that we see most of them for the first time in a Formula car. How they adapt, how quickly they progress and how their improvement is during a 2-day test. We are looking for both talent and speed, a driver to win a Grand Prix. We are really focused on how good these drivers are under pressure and on qualifying simulations. We don’t buy stars, we make stars. We give them the chance - they can use our simulators in Milton Keynes, they will have support with training and nutrition. It’s perfect preparation for Formula 1.”
How did McLaughlin feel about this?
McLaughlin was the first driver to be picked from the new group, while Swedish racer Scott Lindblom came through as well. McLaughlin will now make the move from karting to Formula 4 racing next season.
“My goal in racing is to be a world champion. I never give up; I work hard until I’m at the top. I will keep working until I’m there,” said McLaughlin after the event. “The driver that got me into racing was Sebastian Vettel. He has always been an inspiration to me.”
Red Bull will announce more successful Driver Search candidates soon.