Klien Proud of Performance

Klien has been one of the surprises of the season, scoring points in the first two races of the year and qualifying a highly impressive seventh in Bahrain before being stranded on the grid with an engine problem.

But those performances do not appear to have been enough for Red Bull to extend his three-race run in the car - and the team are likely to give Liuzzi a three-race chance from Imola to show what he can do.

Rather than be disappointed about possibly losing his drive for the time being, however, Klien is adamant that factors beyond his control are behind the decision.

"Things for me always were very clear," said Klien. "With a solid perfomance in winter testing I wanted to earn my place alongside David [Coulthard] to start the season. This I have achieved.

"Then I wanted to prove that I am here on merit. By scoring points twice and with a good performance in Bahrain, I think I did so. Everything else is not in my hands.

"I was told that I would be assured the first three races only and then we would see. I still think that I get better and better from race to race, so whatever the decision will be I will not have to blame myself for it."

If Klien does lose the drive to Liuzzi, then the team are going to have to find a third driver to help with their Friday running because the Austrian is over-qualified for the role.

The favourite to land the position is American Scott Speed, who impressed for the team during recent testing at Barcelona in Spain.

Red Bull sporting director Christian Horner told Autosport-Atlas: "Speed is the result of the Red Bull Junior Team and he made quite an impression at the test last week - especially as it was his first run in a Formula One car. He was very, very impressive."