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The Red Bull driver academy could be about to undergo a streamlining/trimming process, according to team boss Christian Horner. The academy has been one of the more proficient suppliers of talent to F1 with plenty of drivers making their way through that funnel.
Even on the current grid, there are as many as six drivers who were once a part of the driver academy. Having said that, the Red Bull driver academy seems to be falling short in recent years. The team had to offer Nyck de Vries a seat this season because none of the juniors were deemed good enough for F1.
Even right now there are rumors of IndyCar superstar Alex Palou being approached for a seat at AlphaTauri. The same issue was raised to Red Bull boss Christian Horner in an exclusive interview with ESPN.
Admitting that the team does have quite a few drivers in F2 at the moment, Horner did reveal the program might be looked at again and maybe some changes might be in order.
“I think that look, I mean, things go in waves, it produced Sebastian Vettel, it’s produced Max Verstappen. Daniel is a graduate of it. Carlos Sainz is a graduate of it. Pierre Gasly is a graduate of it. There are so many drivers it’s given opportunity to and got into Formula 1. Alex Albon being another," he said.
“And yeah, it’s focusing a bit more on youth I think going forward as well. We have a lot of drivers in Formula 2 this year, I think that will be thinned out moving forward and perhaps a refocus on perhaps some of the lower formulas as well. But you know, a Max Verstappen or a Sebastian Vettel, they don’t come along every season. So, it’s just making sure that you identify that talent when it does come along,” Horner added.
Red Bull junior academy has contributed a lot to the sport
The Red Bull junior academy has given F1 a lot of talent that might not have even made their way to the sport. Drivers like Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly, Daniel Ricciardo, and others have enriched the F1 grid and have some of the top talents in the sport.
There is however no denying that since Alex Albon who graduated to F1 in 2019, there hasn't been a talent that the team has found 'Red Bull-worthy'.
It will be interesting to see who comes next but for now, the team might be rethinking its approach within the sport.
