Time to Stop the Swap?

By Ian Lockwood
June 10 2005

Red Bull Racing have given an indication that they are ready to put an end to the driver swap routine that they have employed during the first 7 races of the season.

Christian Klien will be back inside the cockpit of the number 15 car this weekend. Having been impressive in the first three races of the season, the Austrian was forced to sit out the next 4 races whilst Red Bull trialled the promising Italian Liuzzi. Klien is keen to pick up where he left off and pick up more points for the team - "It's something of a comeback race for me as I've had a break of four races already this season when Tonio was racing. I'm confident that the break and lack of driving during that time hasn't had a negative impact and I can follow up on my good results earlier this season. I can't wait to smell the fuel and race excitement again."

Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz gave the first indication that this may be a longer stint behind the wheel for Christian in an interview with Motorsport Aktuell - "I'd say that Christian drives until further notice certainly for the next four races. After that we'll see if there's any other possibility. We do our best to meet the expectations of both Christian and Tonio. If there's no other option Liuzzi might come back for a couple of races - we did think that Tonio deserved another chance after Monaco, It wouldn't have been good to take him out of the car at that point. He then went on to drive a really strong qualifying lap at the Nurburgring. There's no doubting his potential but at the same time we feel it's right to allow Christian some races back behind the wheel and give the team some continuity."

Mateschitz' comment "if there's no other option" has renewed speculation that Liuzzi may indeed be put on loan to Sauber. Peter Sauber has this weekend publicly stated that Jacques Villeneuve is "simply too slow". JV retaliated by calling his boss & team unprofessional and stating the problem was with the car, not himself. This public airing of dirty laundry has further deepened the rift between the two and making a split before the end of the season increasingly likely.

Red Bull Motorsport Advisor, Helmut Marko, has been revealing the reasoning behind stopping the driver swap programme. Under the current qualification rules each time a driver takes over the race seat, he is forced to go out first in qualifying - a huge disadvantage which Marko says could be up to 2 seconds on some circuits. It can take two or three incident free & reliable races to recoup your rightful grid position. It is also disruptive to the team, especially race engineers, to constantly swap drivers.

The Success of the team so far means that 6th in the constructors championship is a real possibility bringing additional funds and improved pitlane position to the team. What was originally intended as an exploratory & learning year for the team, now has become much more serious with the Milton Keynes based squad hoping to secure its best result since Stewart Grand Prix finshed 4th in 1999.

In my opinion, the driver swap programme was intended to give Klien & Liuzzi experience in the car so they would both be ready to race as team mates in 2006. David Coulthard's strong performances so far this season have resulted in the team deciding they want to keep Scot on board for at least another year, so giving Liuzzi experience is much less important now than trying to secure that 6th place.

Ian Lockwood