Few drivers make it to Formula 1, but their odds of doing so skyrocket by being affiliated with an F1 team’s junior driver programme. This series explores the performances of driver academy members in 2024. Today’s spotlight: the Red Bull Junior Team.

By Marco Albertini

In 2024, the Red Bull Junior Team supported a whopping 16 drivers during the year, with six of them joining mid-year from the revival of the Red Bull Driver Search held at Jerez.

This year proved to be a good one for most of the Red Bull juniors, with one of them set to make his F1 debut next season. A deeper dive into each member’s year shows that despite a rollercoaster year for most, highs were more of a constant than lows.

Check out the e-book below to read all eight of the 2024 F1 driver academy reviews!

Ayumu Iwasa (Super Formula, P5)

With two seasons of F2 under his belt, Iwasa moved back to Japan to compete in Super Formula with Team Mugen, replacing Liam Lawson.

Having shown speed in the post-season tests, Iwasa achieved his maiden pole position in the second round. He converted that into the first of his three second-place finishes across the season on his way to a respectable fifth place in the standings as the highest-placed rookie.

In April, Iwasa made his first-ever F1 free practice one appearance at the Japanese Grand Prix for RB. He most recently drove for the Faenza-based team again during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend.

For 2025, Iwasa is expected to stay in Super Formula with Team Mugen, though Red Bull will end their partnership with the team.

Isack Hadjar (F2, P2)

Having endured a difficult rookie F2 season with Hitech GP in 2023, Hadjar returned to F2, switching to Campos for his sophomore season. Paired up with fellow Red Bull junior Pepe Martí, he came agonisingly close to the title, being bested only by Gabriel Bortoleto by 22.5 points.

After a troubled start to the season, Hadjar won two feature races in a row, in Melbourne and Imola and racked up further wins in Silverstone and Spa. Despite stalling on the grid in the final race of the season, which effectively took him out of title contention, the French-Algerian driver finished runner-up with 192 points.

In 2025, Hadjar will join the Racing Bulls outfit in F1.

Pepe Martí (F2, P14)

Having finished a strong fifth in F3 in the previous year, Pepe Martí came into F2 with high expectations at Campos, but ultimately the season proved to be disappointing for the Spanish driver.

Martí started the season off with two podiums in the opening round in Bahrain, but his fortunes soon changed. He struggled to score points during the rest of the season – only doing so five more times before the season finale – before taking a win in the Yas Marina sprint race. He also scored a second-place finish in the Austria sprint.

Martí ended a difficult year 14th in the standings. Before the post-season test, Martí was confirmed to stay with Campos in F2 for 2025, partnering rookie and fellow Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad.

Oliver Goethe (F2, P23; F3, P7)

Following an up-and-down maiden season in F3 with Trident, Oliver Goethe returned to the championship for a second season, now with Campos and as a Red Bull junior. 

He improved his results significantly, scoring points in all but three races in which he competed. He took a double podium at Imola, including a win in the sprint race, and added another podium at Barcelona, which helped him stay in the mathematical fight for the title heading into the last round of the season at Monza.

Goethe, however, skipped the F3 finale to make his F2 debut for MP, competing in the last four rounds with them as a replacement for Franco Colapinto. In that series, he scored a best result of fourth in the Lusail feature race. He ended the year seventh in F3 and 23rd in F2.

The Danish-German driver also competed in the Macau Grand Prix for MP, coming runner-up to Ugo Ugochukwu on his return to FRegional machinery.

Goethe’s 2025 plans, announced in December, are to compete full time in F2 with MP alongside Richard Verschoor, who joined the team for the final two rounds.

Arvid Lindblad (F3, P4; FR Middle East, P13)

After winning the Macau F4 race and coming close to the Italian F4 crown, Lindblad stepped up to FR Middle East with Mumbai Falcons on a part-time basis. He scored one win and finished 13th in the standings.

His main programme, however, was a full season of F3 with Prema. He was immediately on the pace, becoming the championship’s youngest winner at the Bahrain sprint and leaving the Sakhir round fifth in the points.

The Briton amassed three more wins, two of them at the Silverstone round, and was second in the standings heading into the Hungaroring round. From that event onward, he failed to score points but still finished a solid fourth in the standings as the series’ best rookie.

In 2025, Lindblad will join Campos in F2 alongside Pepe Martí, the team confirmed in September. He already participated in post-season testing with the team in Abu Dhabi, where he explained to Feeder Series that Campos’ ties with Red Bull meant he had “a bit more support” from the Austrian marque and junior team director Guillaume Rocquelin than he did at Prema.

Tim Tramnitz (F3, P9)

After finishing third in FR Europe last year, Tramnitz stepped up to F3 with MP Motorsport for this year. With a promising start in Bahrain, where he scored a top five and a podium, he left the Middle East second in the standings, but an inconsistent middle of the year saw him drop out of the top five in the standings despite scoring two more podiums.

However, in the second half of the season, Tramnitz was a consistent contender for top-fives, even taking his maiden F3 win in the Monza sprint. He finished his first season of F3 ninth in the standings.

In 2025, Tramnitz will remain with MP Motorsport, staying in F3 for his sophomore season in the category. He will be the highest-placed driver from the 2024 season returning to the series.

Kacper Sztuka (F3, P27)

Sztuka moved up to F3 for this year with the support of the Red Bull Junior Team, which he earned after winning the Italian F4 title in 2023. But his season proved to be tough, and the Polish driver struggled to meet expectations amid difficulties adapting to the F3 car. He was dropped from the Red Bull Junior Team in June 2024 after just four rounds in the team’s colours.

Sztuka finished 27th in the championship for MP Motorsport. His sole points finish, a fifth place, came at the Imola sprint race, which he started from pole.

Sztuka’s 2025 plans are uncertain.

Enzo Deligny (FR Europe, P12; F4 UAE, P8)

Coming off the rookie championship win in Spanish F4, Deligny competed in F4 UAE with R-ace GP during the winter. He won one race and finished eighth in the standings despite only racing in the last three rounds.

In his main program in FR Europe with R-ace GP, the 16-year-old scored two rookie podiums – in the second race in Hungary and the first in Imola – but never took a top-three result. Having scored points consistently throughout the early part of the season, Deligny struggled in the last half on his way to 12th in the standings. His best results were two fourth places in the second race at Hockenheim and the first race at Imola.

At the end of the year, Deligny competed in the Macau Grand Prix, finishing in fourth place at the end of the weekend.

The French-Chinese driver’s 2025 plans haven’t been confirmed as of now. He is expected to compete in FR Europe with the same outfit next year but is believed to be leaving the Red Bull fold.

Jules Caranta (F4 UAE, P15; French F4, P3)

Caranta started the year in the F4 UAE Championship, driving with R-ace GP for all but the third round, which he drove with Saintéloc. He had a rocky start but became a consistent presence in the top 10, scoring points in the last seven races and finishing 15th in the standings.

His main programme, however, would be in French F4. He scored four wins and seven other podiums – all third places – to finish third in the championship, 14 points behind champion Taito Kato, in what was a standout rookie season.

During his French F4 stint, he joined the Red Bull Junior Team after taking part in the Red Bull Driver Search in August. A jump to Eurocup-3 with Campos is his likely path for 2025.

Ernesto Rivera (Formula Winter Series, P15; Spanish F4, P5)

Starting the year off in the Formula Winter Series with Campos, Rivera finished 15th with one podium in the final round in an inconsistent debut season in F4.

Based on those results, few would have expected him to fight for top fives in his main campaign Spanish F4 on a consistent basis, but that’s exactly what he did. He won the second race at Portimão and scored 10 total top-five finishes to finish fifth in the standings in his first year in Europe.

Red Bull noticed his early-season rise and signed him to its junior team partway through the year after he participated in the Red Bull Driver Search.

Rivera’s 2025 plans haven’t been confirmed as of now, but it seems likely that he will compete in the Eurocup-3 championship with Campos Racing.

James Egozi (Formula Winter Series, P9; Spanish F4, P6)

Having finished 14th in Italian F4 in 2023 with PHM, Egozi came into 2024 aiming to improve his form. Starting the year in Spain competing in two of the four Formula Winter Series rounds with Campos, Egozi took his first win in the series in the third race at the Aragon round. He was classified ninth in the standings at season’s end.

The American driver took a step up in his main programme in Spanish F4, scoring three podiums and a pole at the final round at Barcelona. He ended the season sixth in the standings as the second-highest-placed Campos driver behind Rivera.

While his plans for 2025 haven’t yet been confirmed, he has tested with RPM in FR Europe machinery and has been linked for a drive with them for next year.

Enzo Tarnvanichkul (Formula Winter Series, P32; Spanish F4, P12)

Coming off a strong karting career highlighted by winning the 2022 OK-Junior world title, Tarnvanichkul had a difficult maiden year in F4.

The Thai driver started the year off in the Formula Winter Series, driving in the last two rounds of the season with Campos after turning the minimum age of 15. He scored a best result of 11th in the final race of the season, which put him 32nd in the standings.

His main campaign, the Spanish F4 championship, didn’t start off well, and he only scored two points finishes in the first three rounds with a best result of seventh. But from the fourth round at Aragon, Tarnvanichkul began to score points on a more regular basis. These improved results included a third-place finish at Valencia and a promising showing in the final round at Barcelona, where he scored a fifth and a fourth to rise to 12th in the standings. 

Tarnvanichkul’s plans haven’t been announced. He has been rumoured to step up to Eurocup-3 for 2025.

Christopher Feghali (Spanish F4, N/A; Karting, various)

Lebanon’s first driver in the Red Bull Junior Team, Feghali participated in the Red Bull Driver Search.

This year, Feghali competed in the Rotax RMC Lebanon championship in the Senior category. That came off the back of ninth in the Champions of the Future Academy Program event at Al Forsan in OK-N last year and a win in the Rotax Challenge Grand Finals in the 125cc Mini Max category in 2022.

After joining the Red Bull Junior Team, Feghali competed as a guest driver in the last two rounds of Spanish F4 with Drivex, achieving a best finish of 12th at Barcelona.

Feghali will stay with Drivex for the 2025 Spanish F4 season.

Fionn McLaughlin (Karting, various)

The first Irish driver in the Red Bull Junior Team since Niall Quinn in 2006, 17-year-old McLaughlin participated in the Red Bull Driver Search in Jerez and was one of the first two drivers announced to be joining the junior team in August.

McLaughlin took two wins and finished third in the Champions of the Future Euro Series in the OK class.

Other strong results include a podium in the Kristianstad round of the FIA Karting European Championship, in which he finished sixth, and a sixth-place finish in the FIA Karting World Championship at PF International in September as a Red Bull junior.

In November of this year, it was announced that the Irishman would make the step up to F4, signing with Hitech GP to compete in the British F4 Championship alongside Leo Robinson and Thomas Bearman.

Rocco Coronel (Ginetta Junior Winter Series, P7; Karting, various)

The son of 1999 Formula Nippon champion and touring car racer Tom Coronel, 14-year-old Coronel was picked up by Red Bull during his final year competing only in karts.

In 2024, the young Dutchman won the Cremona round of the WSK Final Cup in the OK class and placed fourth overall in the series. He also had strong showings at the FIA Karting World Championship, finishing third in OK-Junior class, and the Champions of the Future Euro Series, achieving fifth place in the standings and winning the opening round at Valencia.

In late 2024, Coronel made his debut in cars, racing in the Ginetta Junior Winter Series for R Racing alongside Lindblom. In the series’ sole round, he finished sixth in two of the three races and was classified seventh in the standings.

As was announced before his participation in the winter series, Coronel will compete in the main Ginetta Junior Championship with the same team in 2025.

Scott Kin Lindblom (Ginetta Junior Winter Series, P14; Karting, various)

The first driver to represent Sweden in the Red Bull Junior Team, Lindblom – also picked up in August – won the WSK Euro Series in his maiden outings in the OK class in June.

In the OKJ class last year, he previously finished fourth in the same championship whilst also finishing third in the FIA Karting World Championship.

After the karting season ended, Lindblom competed in the Ginetta Junior Winter Series with R Racing. The Swede finished 14th in the standings, with a best result of 13th.

Lindblom is set to compete in the Ginetta Junior Championship for 2025 with the same team as he leaves full-time karting behind.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency