The leading lights of Red Bull's junior programme will have ample opportunity to showcase their talents in 2022, according to team boss Christian Horner. There will be four Red Bull-backed drivers competing in Formula 2 this season, with Liam Lawson driving for Carlin, Juri Vips for Hitech, and Jehan Daruvala and Dennis Hauger both racing with Prema. Having so many upcoming drivers knocking on the door of Formula 1, there's the obvious issue of finding space for them at the top level of the sport, but Horner is eager to see which of the junior talents are able to perform this season in what he deemed competitive machinery for all four. "[Finding seats is a problem], but they're all in competitive cars in their categories, so let's see," Horner told RacingNews365.com in an exclusive interview. "We've got a great stable of young talent this year with Vips and Lawson in Formula 2, Jehan [Daruvala] as well. "We've got Hauger stepping up [as Formula 3 champion] – he's another exciting talent. So we've got a rich vein of talent." Horner also pointed out another name on their roster, who is racing in his second season of Formula 3 this year: "Jak Crawford is an exciting young American, so yeah, we're not short of talent!"
Two Red Bull talents will drive at F1 weekends
Both Lawson and Vips will have a chance to take part in free practice sessions with Red Bull and sister team AlphaTauri this year, with a new regulation being introduced for 2022. The new rule requires F1 teams to allow rookie drivers to take part in at least two FP1 sessions during the course of the season. A rookie is defined as a driver who has made a maximum of two career Grand Prix starts, and AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost has said that Lawson and Vips will be the drivers chosen by Red Bull for these opportunities. "Currently, the drivers are Liam Lawson and Juri Vips, and this is also a decision from Red Bull," Tost explained after Friday's final day of pre-season testing at Barcelona. "I think Vips will drive for Red Bull Racing and Lawson for Scuderia AlphaTauri."
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