What is the Red Bull Junior Team? A look at Marko’s F1 legacy

Part of his remit was managing the young driver programme for the Red Bull operation, signing racers at a young age in the hope that they’d eventually reach F1 – or other world championships. 

It is certainly one of the more controversial driver academies considering its ruthless nature – Marko has been known to quickly release individuals – but almost half of the F1 2025 grid came from the Red Bull Junior Team.

It’s certainly successful in its own right, and a lot of that can be put down to Marko, so here is all to know about the Red Bull driver academy. 

What is the Red Bull Junior Team?

The Red Bull Junior Team is a driver development programme operated by Austrian conglomerate Red Bull GmbH, best known for its energy drinks brand.

It was officially founded in 2001 with the aim of signing and developing young racing drivers, so that they are capable of establishing successful careers within the industry. 

This entails Red Bull identifying drivers from Formula 2 right down to karting to fund and support their progression through the open-wheel ranks with aspirations of eventually getting to F1.

It was not a stellar debut year for Red Bull as it finished seventh in the championship, but the following season saw the company expand its presence on the grid.

That’s because Red Bull bought the uncompetitive Minardi, an Italian squad that had been in F1 from 1985 to 2005. The company rebranded the team as Toro Rosso — which is ‘Red Bull’ in Italian — to serve as Red Bull’s junior squad in F1.

So, whenever a Red Bull junior driver has made their F1 debut, it has usually come with the Faenza-based squad in which a promotion to the ‘A’ team then happens if they impress.

Race winner Sebastian Vettel, Toro Rosso

Photo by: Sutton Images

But not every Red Bull junior will reach F1, as many graduates of the programme are contesting other forms of motorsport whether it is the World Endurance Championship, IndyCar or even DTM. 

Which F1 drivers have graduated from the Red Bull Junior Team?

Arvid Lindblad will become the 18th F1 driver to have graduated from the Red Bull junior system when he makes his series debut in 2026.

The Austrian outfit therefore has a long history of signing drivers from its sister squad, with Vettel the first to make that jump in 2009 shortly after winning the 2008 Italian Grand Prix.

Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing RB10

Photo by: Daniel Kalisz

Given Vettel and Verstappen have each claimed four F1 world championships with Red Bull, while Ricciardo won seven grands prix with the team, the programme has many success stories. 

But it is also a very cut-throat programme. Should a driver not immediately perform well, their future within the system comes under threat.

They aren’t the only examples of Red Bull being quick to pull the trigger though, as 2025 witnessed perhaps the most extreme example yet. Lawson started the year as Verstappen’s team-mate, but he was demoted back to Racing Bulls following two race weekends where he failed to score a point.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Liam Lawson, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Elsewhere, Red Bull graduate Sebastien Buemi has become a four-time WEC champion after his three-year stint with Toro Rosso. Ayumu Iwasa, meanwhile, is a Red Bull junior who became the 2025 Super Formula champion, while IndyCar’s Callum Ilott spent 2015 in the programme – yet neither have started a grand prix.

However, his prior team Racing Point opted to replace him with Vettel for 2021, meaning Perez was without a drive despite finishing a then career-equalling best of fourth in the championship.

So, considering Albon’s struggles, Red Bull swiftly signed the free agent Perez shortly after the 2020 Abu Dhabi finale given that at the time it did not have any junior drivers capable of replacing the Thai-Briton.

Nyck de Vries, AlphaTauri AT04

Photo by: Erik Junius

All F1 graduates from the Red Bull Junior Team

Who are the current drivers in the Red Bull Junior Team?

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— The Autosport.com Team