Christian Klien
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| Christian Klien | |
|---|---|
 Klien signing autographs at the 2005 United States Grand Prix |
|
| F1 Record | |
| Nationality |  Austrian |
| Car # | N/A |
| Current team | Honda F1 |
| Team for 2007 | — |
| Grands Prix | 48 |
| World Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podium finishes | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First Grand Prix | 2004 Australian Grand Prix |
| Last Grand Prix | 2006 Italian Grand Prix |
| 2006 Championship position | 18th (2 pts) |
| edit | |
Christian Klien (born February 7, 1983) is an Austrian Formula One racing driver, who drove for Jaguar Racing in 2004 and Red Bull Racing during the 2005 and 2006 seasons. He joins Honda F1 as test and reserve driver in 2007.
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[edit] Personal and early life
Christian Klien was born on February 7, 1983 in Hohenems, in the Austrian Alps to Herma and Hennes Klien. Klien has a sister called Carina.
[edit] Racing career
[edit] Pre-Formula One
After meeting Brazilian F1 driver Ayrton Senna, Klien decided that he would embark on a career in motor racing. The Austrian started his career at the age of 13. From 1996 to 1998, Klien won several kart races in both Switzerland and his native Austria, becoming the Suisse champion in his first year.
In 1999, Klien moved to racing in the Formula BMW ADAC Junior Cup, winning four races and finishing fourth in the series. The following year, he moved into the main Formula BMW ADAC Championship with Team Rosberg, finishing the series ranked tenth overall and third in the rookie rankings. Continuing in the series in 2001, Klien managed to win five races, and ended up third in the series. Joining JD Motorsport for the Italian winter Formula Renault series, he won one event, which lead to a drive for the team in German Formula Renault for 2002.
Klien won four races, winning the German title, and finishing fifth in the European series. From there, Klien moved into the Formula Three Euroseries, with Mucke Motorsport, winning four races and finishing runner-up to Ryan Briscoe. Klien also won the 2003 Marlboro Masters event at Zandvoort.
[edit] Formula One
[edit] 2004: Jaguar
Thanks to financial support from Red Bull, Klien was signed as a race driver for the Jaguar Formula One team in 2004, replacing Justin Wilson, who had replaced Antônio Pizzonia for the final 5 Grand Prix of the 2003 season. He had significant pressure on him as second driver to his more experienced teammate Mark Webber, but was the first driver to ever outqualify Webber from the same team.
Klien proved to be considerably reliable over the season, retiring only on 4 ocassions out of the possible 18. Klien's only points scoring finish in his debut season came in Belgium, where Klien finished sixth; scoring 3 Championship points. He finished alongside Christiano da Matta and Nick Heidfeld in joint 16th in the Drivers' Championship.
[edit] 2005-2006: Red Bull Racing
- Main article: Red Bull Racing
- 2005
During winter testing in 2005, Klien tested several times for Red Bull Racing alongside Vitantonio Liuzzi and David Coulthard. Klien secured the second race seat at Red Bull, alongside the veteran Coulthard. Klien started the year with points finishes in the first two races before retiring in Bahrain before the race had even started due to an electrical problem.
With both Klien and Liuzzi signed to race for the Red Bull team in 2005, Red Bull announced that Liuzzi would be racing at the next 4 rounds in San Marino, Spain, Monaco and the European Grands Prix instead of Klien. Originally, Klien was ineligable to be a third driver at these Grand Prix, as he had competed in over six Grand Prix the previous year, but after a majority of teams asked the FIA to remove this ruling, Klien was allowed to take this role at Imola.
The Austrian returned to the race seat for the Canadian Grand Prix, expecting to have to hand it back to Liuzzi within a few races. Klien maintained his race seat thanks to his strong performances and Red Bull's increased number of seats from the purchase of the Minardi team in 2006.
Klien finished his second year in Formula One with two further points finishes: an 8th place finish in Turkey and a 5th at the season-finale in China. After a promising performance in China, it was confirmed in December 2005 that Klien would drive for the Red Bull Racing outfit alongside David Coulthard for the 2006 season.
- 2006
Klien has started 2006 strongly, qualifying in the top 10 for the first 2 races of the season. In Bahrain he finished 8th, scoring a point. However in Malaysia he collided with Kimi Räikkönen on the first lap and had to pit with suspension damage, before eventually dropping out with a hydraulic failure.
In 2006 Klien was unsuccessful in comparison to teammate David Coulthard, with, what many rate as, several poor race performances and his future with the team looked uncertain. In August 2006, it was confirmed that Klien would not stay with the Red Bull team for he upcoming 2007 season, or at least as a race driver, due to Mark Webber's signing with Red Bull Racing to compete alongside David Coulthard. After 2 points finishes in Bahrain & Germany, there was some uncertainty as to where Klien would go next in his racing career, speculation suggested America as a logical choice for the Austrian, but he refused a ChampCar seat in a Red Bull-backed team for 2007, preferring to chase a Formula One drive with another team.
As a result, the team announced that Klien had been dropped for the last three races of the season in favour of test driver Robert Doornbos. [1]
[edit] 2007 ownards: Honda F1
On November 15, 2006, Honda Racing announced the signing of Christian Klien as their test and reserve driver for the 2007 season. [2]
[edit] Complete Formula One results
(key)
| Yr | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Team | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Jaguar | AUS 11 |
MYS 10 |
BAH 14 |
SMR 14 |
SPA Ret |
MON Ret |
EUR 12 |
CAN 9 |
USA Ret |
FRA 11 |
GBR 14 |
DEU 10 |
HUN 13 |
BEL 6 |
ITA 13 |
CHN Ret |
JPN 12 |
BRA 14 |
Jaguar | 16th | 3 | |
| 2005 | Red Bull | AUS 7 |
MYS 8 |
BAH DNS |
SMR DNP |
ESP DNP |
MON DNP |
EUR DNP |
CAN 8 |
USA DNS |
FRA Ret |
GBR 15 |
DEU 9 |
HUN Ret |
TUR 8 |
ITA 13 |
BEL 9 |
BRA 9 |
JPN 9 |
CHN 5 |
Red Bull | 15th | 9 |
| 2006 | Red Bull | BAH 8 |
MYS Ret |
AUS Ret |
SMR Ret |
EUR Ret |
SPA 13 |
MON Ret |
GBR 14 |
CAN 11 |
USA Ret |
FRA 12 |
DEU 8 |
HUN Ret |
TUR 11 |
ITA 11 |
CHN DNP |
JPN DNP |
BRA DNP |
Red Bull | 18th | 2 |
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
