Motorsports: Magherafelt youngster joins Red Bull Racing
After impressing in Red Bull Driver Search - Red Bull’s global scouting programme which aims to find the next F1 World Champion – Magherafelt 16-year-old Fionn McLaughlin will join the elite Red Bull Junior Driver Team.
The team formed in 2001 and currently the team consists of nine 15 to 19-year-old racers driving in the Junior Formula Series and now the aggregation is growing.
The Red Bull Driver Search, scouts, selects and tests promising young drivers from across the globe to join the Red Bull Junior Driver Team. Led by Dr. Helmut Marko, Red Bull Motorsports Consultant and Head of the Red Bull Junior Driver programme, the search for future F1 champions began on the first week of August in Jerez, Spain.
A group of 11 invited candidates aged between 13 and 16 came from the UK, Ireland, France, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Lebanon and Mexico. From this aspiring group, the first drivers selected to join the programme were McLaughlin and young Swedish talent Scott Lindblom. The three-day event consisted of prospective young drivers trying and testing open-wheel F4 and GP3 racing cars in a shootout format.
After a challenging, but rewarding days spent testing in Jerez, the Magherafelt youngster is aiming for the stars. “My goal in racing is to be a world champion. I’ll never give up; I’ll work hard until I’m at the top. I will keep working until I’m there.”
Fionn’s racing role modelwas a Red Bull Junior Driver graduate himself.
“The driver that got me into racing was Sebastian Vettel. He has always been an inspiration to me.”
Dr. Helmut 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 two-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.”
McLaughlin was he first driver to make the tough Red Bull Junior Team cut and he will move from Karting to an F4 series next season. .
Over the years, the Red Bull Junior Team has been successful in bringing a selection of drivers into Formula One, with the Red Bull Driver Search pivotal in the process of scouting the talent. Five of the Red Bull Junior Team alumni; Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly, and Carlos Sainz Jr. have won a Formula One race, while Vettel and Verstappen have won at least three World Championships each.