Almost half of the Formula 1 grid in 2025 will have come from the Red Bull Junior Team, making it one of the most successful academy programmes in motorsport. Jack Doohan , Pierre Gasly , Alex Albon , Carlos Sainz , Isack Hadjar , Yuki Tsunoda , Liam Lawson and reigning world champion Max Verstappen have all come through the Red Bull ranks. Each team in F1 has its own driver academy; for example, George Russell graduated from the Mercedes junior programme, but what makes the Red Bull system so unique? 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, and headed by motorsport advisor Helmut Marko.
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. Sebastian Vettel , for example, first received Red Bull backing in karting, while Liam Lawson joined the programme at the age of 17 ahead of his rookie Formula 3 campaign.
Red Bull therefore owns two teams in motorsport’s top single-seater championship: Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls, which is what it will be known as in 2025. Red Bull made its F1 debut in 2005 after the company purchased .