RBR confirms Klien and Liuzzi

Speculation has been rife in recent weeks that the team's management was evaluating whether Klien or Liuzzi would be used as a race driver - with some rumours suggesting that a seat-share scheme would be put in place with one driver racing and the other testing on the Fridays of grand prix weekends.

Although that latter scenario would work if Klien was in the race-seat, the problem the team would face if Liuzzi raced is that Klien has taken part in too many grands prix to be eligible for a Friday role. That means the outfit would have to look elsewhere for a Friday test driver.

In a statement issued to autosport.com on Wednesday, RBR confirmed that deals had now been concluded with both Klien and Liuzzi, but the team was far from making a decision about their specific roles.

"The Red Bull Racing Team confirms today that Austrian Christian Klien, and Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi have both signed contracts with the team for 2005," said the statement. "Christian and Vitantonio, both members of the Red Bull Junior Team, have identical contracts enabling either to be race or test driver, with an option for additional years."

And any hopes that there would be a quick resolution to the matter appear to have been dashed, with the team indicating that a final decision on whether Klien or Liuzzi starts the season may not be made until the eve of the 2005 season.

"The second race driver will be confirmed before the start of the season in March in Melbourne, Australia, with all three drivers completing testing duties for the team in January and February," continued the statement.

A team does not have to nominate its drivers for the 2005 season until the actual week of the Australian Grand Prix - meaning that Klien and Liuzzi could face an anxious few months of testing while the matter is resolved.

Klien remains favourite to start the season racing, however, because of his experience from last season. Team sources have also suggested that Liuzzi may not yet have the full fitness required to make the jump from racing in F300 to F1, and may need a major testing programme to get fully in shape.