Point chase around the world

A terrific debut by Sebastian Buemi on the North Loop, Robert Wickens takes over the lead in America and Colin Fleming just barely missed a date with Prince Albert II at the Côte D’Azur.

Three Red Bull Juniors had the opportunity to present themselves to thousands of motor sports fans during the weekend in the preliminary support races of the Formula 1. On the legendary city course of Monaco, a championship run of the World Series by Renault also took place alongside the GP2 Series.

Colin Fleming just barely missed the chance to be in the traditional reception of the best three with Prince Albert II: The 22-year-old American finished in fourth place and is now ranked sixth place in the championship with 13 points – and thus only six points behind the leader.

For the Californian, more might have been possible: “In the qualifying round, I could have driven in the pole position. Red flags and an early termination made this however impossible”, commented Fleming. “The speed in the race was right though, and it was unbelievably fun to drive in Monaco.” His team colleague, Mikhail Aleshin, who had entered the race in the tenth starting row, was able to gain a few positions and came in 15th at the finish.

Michael Ammermüller managed a bigger jump to the fore: The German GP2 pilot, who arrived on the Mediterranean coast with big hopes, was able to pick up two more points in the overall rankings. And he achieved this, although the point chase already seemed to end for Ammermüller after the first racing day: 24th place in open training was followed only by 20th place in the qualifying round – and the tenth starting row in Monte Carlo is not necessarily well known as an ideal starting position for points or good for an invitation to the Prince’s VIP box.

“Because I had problems with the brakes, I was barely able to get any time driving in training. In the qualifying round, I waited for the best conditions until the end – however, then I unfortunately got into traffic anyway”, commented Ammermüller about the slow lap times. Then the 20-year old captured his momentum in the race: After a rocket start, Ammermüller soon regained tenth place. Half way through the race, he found himself in the point rankings for the first time in eighth place, and he even secured one more place before the finish line.

In the championship, the rookie is now positioned at the outstanding fourth place with 25 points. The sprint race did not take place due to the closely packed schedule. Ammermüller’s next chance to gain points is in two weeks at the Grand Prix of Silverstone.

On the Nürburgring, which is equally popular to motor sports fans, the third championship run of the Formula Renault NEC took place on the weekend. The four Red Bull Juniors were not only participants but were in the spotlight, where the first race ended with the quartet in places one, two, three and four.

For the first time, Sébastien Buemi was also in the race: The 17-year-old, who was able to win his first race in the Formula 3 Euroseries in the previous week, starts additionally in the North European series. Already in open training, it was clear however that Buemi will not have transition problems – he had the best time driving on Friday. At the end of the weekend, the victory in the first race and a third place stood on the Swiss’ results list.

The overall leader, Filipe Albuquerque, achieved the triumph of second place in the first race, John Edwards reached the finish in third place, and the New Zealander Brendon Hartley picked up fourth place, his best result thus far.

The Red Bull Junior quartet succeeded in gaining a further boost in individual point standings in the second race: Albuquerque secured 24 points in second place, Hartley classed in behind Buemi in fourth place, the only 14-year-old American, Edwards, still got seventh after a blown start.

Robert Wickens also had every reason to rejoice in the Formula BMW USA: The 17-year-old Canadian in Lime Rock Park (Connecticut) celebrated a commanding victory and now leads in the overall rankings. In 2005, the 17-year-old ended the championship in third place, this year Wickens wants more: “In the previous year, I won twice and drove to the podium five times. This year I want to win the series.”

In the next two races, Wickens might also get to breathe some Formula 1 air again. This is because in four weeks his Canadian home Grand Prix takes place in Montreal, whereas afterwards the race for victory shifts to probably the most famous racing course in the world, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “The atmosphere at the support race of the Formula 1 is simply fantastic. Hopefully I will also meet my colleagues there from Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso”, Robert says, already excited.