The three best Red Bull junior drivers never to make it to F1 including ‘consistent’ Formula E champion

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Red Bull joined the Formula 1 grid for the 2005 season after buying the Jaguar team and got to grips with the challenge after some difficult winless seasons.

They eventually won four championships in a row with Sebastian Vettel from 2010-2013 and have enjoyed a similar run of success with Max Verstappen since 2021.

The Austrian team have had success with a lot of drivers from their junior team, such as Vettel and Verstappen, who were guided through their early careers by Red Bull and Dr Helmut Marko in particular.

Daniel Ricciardo also won races with the team, including a famous victory at the Monaco Grand Prix in 2018, before quietly leaving Formula 1 after the Singapore Grand Prix six years later.

Other drivers, such as Carlos Sainz, never made it to the main Red Bull team but raced in his rookie season with Toro Rosso before later going on to win races at Ferrari.

There have been some talents who had excellent junior careers but just missed out on a seat in Formula 1 before going on to win races and championships in other categories.

So, with that in mind, F1 Oversteer looks at three of Red Bull’s best junior drivers who didn’t quite make it to F1 and have been successful in other championships.

Pato O’Ward: Red Bull Junior Team (2019)

Pato O’Ward is now a consistent frontrunner in IndyCar for Arrow McLaren and winning races in North America’s top single-seater category. O’Ward is unlikely to make it to F1, as his style behind the wheel isn’t compatible with modern F1 cars.

The Mexican driver won his inaugural IndyCar race in 2021 during his first season with Arrow McLaren SP, taking a superb victory at Texas Motor Speedway. This win allowed him to test a Formula 1 car in Abu Dhabi for McLaren.

O’Ward made his debut in the championship in 2018 at the end of the season before driving for Carlin in 2019.

He has become known for his acrobatic style behind the wheel and O’Ward has been on the verge of making history by becoming the first Mexican to win the Indy 500.

O’Ward missed out in 2024 despite passing Josef Newgarden for the lead heading onto the last lap before being overtaken heading into Turn 3 on the 200th and final lap.

He had a successful junior career on his way up the ladder but never quite made it to Formula 1 despite O’Ward’s blistering speed.

The Mexican driver won the Indy Lights championship in 2018 and became part of the Red Bull Junior Team the following year, which is notoriously ruthless.

Red Bull signed O’Ward in May 2019 and he competed in one Formula 2 round at the Red Bull Ring for MP Motorsport as the Dutch team needed a replacement for Mahaveer Raghunathan.

The weekend in Austria was challenging on a new track and the distinct Pirelli tyres F2 uses can be difficult for new drivers to grasp. He didn’t score a point and moved to Super Formula, replacing Dan Ticktum.

Due to not having a superlicense, he couldn’t compete in Formula 1 in 2020 and joined McLaren in IndyCar instead. O’Ward was released from his Red Bull contract after just three Super Formula rounds in Japan.

The Mexican also competed in eight IndyCar events for Carlin that year after originally planning to do 13 races in the championship.

Neel Jani: Red Bull Junior Team (2005-2007)

Neel Jani has had a successful career across a range of cars, including winning the A1 Grand Prix title in the 2007-2008 season for Team Switzerland.

He had a great career in A1 GP, representing his country, consistently finishing at the front and winning the championship.

The Swiss driver also won at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMP1 class for Porsche, combined with the World Endurance Championship later that season in 2016.

He has continued to have more success in endurance racing with Porsche, as he finished second in the LMGTE class in WEC.

Jani transitioned into endurance racing after pushing to race in Formula 1 and competing in the multitude of junior categories below the highest level.

He won the Formula Lista Junior 1.6 championship to begin his career before challenging for titles in Formula Renault categories.

Red Bull became interested in Jani, who had consistently been at the front in multiple single-seater categories, and signed the Swiss driver to their junior team in 2004.

Jani became a test and reserve driver for the Sauber Formula 1 team, helping to develop the car for the team’s race drivers Felipe Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella.

In 2006, Jani didn’t race in GP2 as he became the test driver for the Toro Rosso F1 team during the Italian outfit’s first season in Formula 1.

There were no full-time options in F1 for 2007, so Jani left Europe to race in America and Champ Car. The Swiss driver was immediately competitive and finished ninth in the standings, taking three podium finishes across his debut year.

Antonio Felix da Costa: Red Bull Junior Team (2012-2013)

Antonio Felix da Costa has won the Formula E championship as well as a victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMP2 class in 2022.

The Portuguese driver has been very successful in single-seaters throughout his career, winning championships on the road to Formula 1.

The Formula E championship in the 2019-20 season for DS Techeetah was superb as he won three of the 11 races that campaign in a shortened season.

Peter McCool was the technical chief at Aguri from 2013 to 2015 in Formula E and Da Costa was an attractive option as he had experience with regenerative energy systems like KERS from testing Red Bull F1 cars.

McCool described Da Costa’s personality as ‘consistent’, via The Race, which allowed the team to run smoothly and there not to be any tension over a season.

Earlier in his career, Da Costa won the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC Championship in 2009 before stepping up to F3 for the following year and becoming a test driver for the Force India Formula 1 team.

After a couple of seasons with Force India, the Portuguese driver joined the Red Bull programme for 2012 and raced in the GP3 Series.

Da Costa finished third in the championship and took three wins from 16 races but couldn’t quite challenge Mitch Evans, who won the title.

He took a step closer to Formula 1 for the following season and moved into the Formula Renault 3.5 championship for his first full campaign. It was very competitive over the series’ history and saw Sainz win the title in 2014 and go straight into Toro Rosso in F1.

Da Costa competed in a partial campaign of Formula Renault 3.5 in 2012 alongside GP3 but returned a year later to finish third in the championship.

This put him agonisingly close to Formula 1 as he finished behind McLaren juniors Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel Vandoorne.

Da Costa anticipated a couple of FP1 outings in Formula 1 towards the end of the 2013 season with Toro Rosso but they never occurred despite having a suit and doing a seat fit.

The Portuguese driver was looking to become a Formula 1 driver in 2014 when Marko told Da Costa he wouldn’t be graduating to F1 over the phone. Da Costa’s chance had gone, and Red Bull’s junior team partnered Jean-Eric Vergne with Daniil Kvyat for 2014.