The Red Bull Junior Team has already produced two Formula 1 World Champions: A look behind the scenes of the world championship forge
Speed, performance and success characterise the Red Bull Junior Team. Under the leadership of motorsport consultant Helmut Marko, the Formula 1 stars of tomorrow are being trained. Conclusion: after 20 years of team history with success! World champions like Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel passed the doctor’s tough school with flying colours, but what happens behind the scenes?
True to Formula 1’s “the best or nothing” way of thinking, the man from Graz founded a programme to offer young talents the chance to succeed in the premier class Driving a racing car in Formula 1 – a dream, consolidated as early as childhood. Dennis Hauger, Formula 3 World Champion, is already pretty close to fulfilling the dream of his own cockpit.
“To survive in motorsport, the dedication to passion is unavoidable,” admits the Formula 2 driver. The same goes for the fighting spirit and mental strength. To release this strength, focus plays a big role. Focus on things you can control.
This includes performance on the track and behaviour towards authority. Even in Formula 2, Hauger says it’s important to work hard. If you don’t live up to expectations, the support will stop.
Red Bull – a goldmine?
Nowadays it is very difficult to get a foothold in Formula 1 without being a member of a junior programme. Already in Formula 2, costs of up to 2.5 million euros per season are a heavy burden Therefore, Red Bull finances part of the budget that teams like Prema need?
In addition to the financial aspect, close cooperation with the Formula 1 teams Red Bull and AlphaTauri is essential. Specifically, this involves training in the simulator. In addition to the training sessions, the junior cops test out various set-ups for the next Grand Prix.
In this way, the teams generate important data and the juniors achieve more practice in the race car. Nevertheless, reality is important. That’s why in 2022 Formula 1 will stipulate that a junior driver must be used in the first free practice session on at least two race weekends per season.
Performance from head to toe
Unique to Red Bull is the Atlethe Performance Centre Thalgau. In the suburb of Salzburg, every Red Bull athlete gets the opportunity to undergo several comprehensive treatments. These include physiotherapy, improvement of mental strength or nutritional counselling. Suitable sleep management and movement analysis can also be recorded in the Athlete Performance Centre. Innovative technologies are used for this purpose.
The goal is to inspire top athletes to new peak performances. The personal relationship between champion and coach is an essential part of the training. This makes it easier to focus on the athletes’ needs.
Through hard work, the Red Bull Junior Team has become a world champion and is guaranteed to make positive headlines in the future.
