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Red Bull reveal junior driver testing plans

AlphaTauri's Franz Tost has revealed that Red Bull intend to run two drivers across their two teams at the post-season Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi.

Red Bull are set to test out two of their junior drivers at the Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi after the season ends. Red Bull's driver academy is one of the most successful in Formula 1, with three of their current four drivers all promoted from within. While AlphaTauri have committed to Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda for next season, Red Bull will run two of their current juniors at the dedicated Young Driver Test at Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi in early December. Speaking in an interview with Sport1.de, AlphaTauri boss Franz Tost explained the plan and where the immediate future of Red Bull is concentrating in terms of drivers. "With us, they are Liam Lawson and Juri Vips, who will also contest the Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi," he said. "Lawson with us [AlphaTauri], Vips with Red Bull Racing. Formula 2 is very busy this year." Tost also earmarked some other drivers currently racing in Formula 2 as being promising prospects. "Oscar Piastri (Alpine), Theo Pourchaire (Alfa Romeo/Sauber), Robert Shwartzman (Ferrari) and our two juniors are definitely the drivers of the future," he said. With just 20 seats in Formula 1, one idea that sometimes bubbles up is for existing teams to run a third car in order to give junior drivers more opportunities. But this thought doesn't hold much water with Tost, who says the ideals and the logistics of the proposal simply don't make sense. "There were always too few places in Formula 1," he said. "At the moment there are 20 cars and they have the best drivers. "At Red Bull, we give the youngsters test drives in older cars. Another alternative would be to let them drive another season in F2 – or in DTM or IndyCar. You can also create a path from these series. If you have the right talent, you will end up in Formula 1 at some point. "I don't see the third car: it starts with who is supposed to finance it. In addition, the paddock and pits are at their limit in terms of space. I don't even know where to put the third car."

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