Red Bull still thinking of car share
Christian Klien and Vitantonio Liuzzi are looking increasingly likely to share the second seat at Red Bull Racing this season after one of the key figures behind the team admitted that the outfit would lose nothing from switching around David Coulthard's team-mate
Helmut Marko, who is Red Bull's director of motorsport, has admitted that with a vastly experienced driver like Coulthard on-board to help lead it forwards then there was little concern about swapping around the second driver.
Formula 1's sporting regulations allow teams to switch around the second driver and, although Klien's experience from 2004 rules him out of a Friday testing role, it is possible that the team may choose to hand Liuzzi a racing chance at some point this year. This would then force Klien to sit on the sidelines completely.
What is certain, however, is that the driver that starts the season will almost certainly be kept on board for several events - in a bid to ensure that there is no more instability than there needs to be.
Speaking about the possibility of car sharing, Marko said: "I cannot detect any problem with that, because the team can orientate itself on David. This is why we got him in the first place."
Handing Liuzzi much-needed F1 experience this season is also going to be vital for the team if it wants to team the Italian up with Klien full-time in 2006 - a scenario that is very possible with Coulthard currently only having a one-year deal in place.
Marko added: "If their performance is good, we might as well go racing in 2006 with Liuzzi and Klien. We only have a one year deal with David and if he delivers as we believe, he will become attractive again for a top team. That we will not be in 2006."
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