Klien replaced by Liuzzi

[|Nuno|]

F1 Central

Vitantonio Liuzzi will make his Formula 1 race debut with the Red Bull Racing team at the San Marino Grand Prix. Liuzzi has been part of the Red Bull Junior Team since 2001 and is the reigning FIA F3000 champion. Liuzzi will be replacing Christian Klien at the Austrian team.

The 24-year-old Italian has been the team's Friday test and reserve driver at the first three Grand Prix of the season and will now partner David Coulthard in Imola, Barcelona and Monte Carlo. The team has been extremely pleased with Christian's performance during the first three races, particularly his points scoring finishes in Australia and Malaysia. The 22-year-old Austrian will continue to play an important role within the team during Tonio's three race trial being stood down so that Tonio also can experience Formula 1 in a racing environment.

An announcement regarding who will fill the role of Friday test driver at the San Marino GP will be made in due course.

Vitantonio Liuzzi "I am very happy to get this chance to race in Formula 1, which has always been my target since I started racing. It is particularly exciting for me to have my first race at my home Grand Prix in Imola. This is a great opportunity for me and of course, I hope to make the best of it. Christian has done a great job in the first three races and it is clear that our car has good potential. It will be great having to get up early on a Saturday and have something to do!"

[Vansquish]

Interesting that they should replace a points-producing team member with a relative nobody. Ah well, it should be interesting to see how Liuzzi manages.

[ZfrkS62]

I wouldn't really call Liuzzi a nobody. His name has come up several times last year as it was highly rumored he would have a race seat this year. But i imagine that the only reason Klein is being benched is because DC would actually have something to say about it if he were the one taking a seat for the new comer. And the last thing a new team needs is a disgruntled veteran in the ranks :wink:

[|Nuno|]

But i imagine that the only reason Klein is being benched is because DC would actually have something to say about it if he were the one taking a seat for the new comer. And the last thing a new team needs is a disgruntled veteran in the ranks


Nah, I doubt that's the case. The Red Bull boss said that he would give a chance to Liuzzi, no matter how good or bad Klien performed.:)



As I see it, it's a good move; having two pilots fighting for a seat can only be a good thing (see De la Rosa).

Besides, Liuzzi is Italian and Imola is in Italy...

[FPVPSI]

Oh well...i reckon Klien should get into gear and get himself a drive in A1. A perfect recipe, everyone on a even playing field...should be good racing... 8)

[HeilSvenska]

Besides, Liuzzi is Italian and Imola is in Italy...

wait, but why is it called San Marino gp? it's a separate country. And Imola is in Italy.


on a note, hopefully, Klien is proved that he's a better driver, if he is.

and yes, Liuzzi will suffer in Monaco

[sameerrao]

This proposal of driver change was decided long back. What Red Bull wants to do is give both drivers a fair evaluation of their capabilities in the race weekend pressure cooker environment.

Klien has already a season under his belt and so was familiar with all the tracks so far. Liuzzi has only got experience in the tracks where the F3000 runs.

Therefore, Christian Horner decided to let Liuzzi show his stuff in the next three races where he already has some race experience. Thus a fairer comparison of the two would be possible. Following these three races, I am not sure who gets to drive in the second seat.

But if Liuzzi also performs well and so does Klien, Mr. Coulthard may be on the way out next season.

No word yet on Villeneuve's seat - whether it could go to one of these two.

wait, but why is it called San Marino gp? it's a separate country. And Imola is in Italy.
Its just a ruse for Italy to have 2 GPs. Similarly Germany has 2 GPs - European GP and German GP under the same mechanism

[tekwar]

klien has already proved himself the first 3 races in the year. liuzzi has a big job at hand to impress the red bull squad. Its a tough one for klien who has to sit out the next 3 races though. He has done a great job for the team so far.

[ZfrkS62]

I think Luizzi will do pretty well. I think it's going to be a great season for RedBull on two fronts. The normal GP season and the battle between Klien and Liuzzi :D It'll be interesting to say the very least :D ::jumps for joy at the thought of an exciting F1 season::

[sameerrao]

klien can thank the new car for his success, last year he didnt do shittttt, so with Liuzzi getting the seat and now we will see who is the better driver. though i think that Klien had the easier races, but time will tell.

Cut him slack... He did a decent job last year for a rookie. I think he showed up Mark webber in one or two races. This year he is a lot more confident and it shows in his driven

[tekwar]

lets hope david can keep up with his younger teammates :P

[phantomfocus]

I wish good luck to Luizzi, however I am more interested in the driver they select for the Friday pracitce session. Being form the states, I would love to see Scott Speed get a chance at that seat. He showed promise in his test at Barcelona, and is definitly on the potential drivers list.

[jenkF1]

Klien is impressive, but I think its certainly time Liuzzi got his debut. Remember we are talking about someone who was brilliant in F3000 and set very good pace in the Red Bull testing sessions. When Klien first joined Jaguar I was not impressed, but hes proved a few people wrong. But he hasn't done anything that special as I remember.

[phantomfocus]

Just released. The FIA has changed the Friday driver rule! Any driver with a superlisence can now run the Friday car. Klien will drive for Red Bull on friday's.

http://www.formula1.com/news/2849.html