Formula 3000 champion Tonio Liuzzi will make his Formula One début for Red Bull Racing at the San Marino Grand Prix. However, the Italian’s big break will be at the cost of talented Austrian Christian Klien, who will sit out at least the next three grands prix.

Formula 3000 champion Tonio Liuzzi will make his Formula One début for Red Bull Racing at the San Marino Grand Prix. However, the Italian’s big break will be at the cost of talented Austrian Christian Klien, who will sit out at least the next three grands prix.


Klien has impressed the team and F1 pundits with strong performances at all three Grands Prix so far this year. However, Red Bull's management has made no secret of the fact that it wants to see the true potential of Liuzzi, who dominated F3000 last year.


On Tuesday, Liuzzi was assured that he would partner David Coulthard at the next three races - Imola, Barcelona and Monaco.


"I am very happy to get this chance to race in Formula 1, which has always been my target since I started racing. It is particularly exciting for me to have my first race at my home Grand Prix in Imola,” the Italian said. “This is a great opportunity for me and I hope to make the best of it. Christian has done a great job in the first three races and it is clear that our car has good potential. It will be great to get up early on a Saturday and have something to do!"


After the Monaco Grand Prix, Red Bull Racing’s management will judge whether the Italian has done a good enough job to keep the seat for the following three grands prix or whether Klien deserves to be drafted back into the race team. Klien and Liuzzi have identical contracts with Red Bull, which allows the team to make the driver switch without any problems.


There were suggestions in recent weeks that either Klien or Liuzzi could be loaned to Sauber if the Swiss team dropped Jacques Villeneuve, but such a scenario looks unlikely in the immediate future.


That means that Klien will now be forced to sit on the sidelines for the next few races, because he is over-qualified to drive Red Bull's third car on grand prix Fridays. The team have not made a decision yet about who their third driver will be, but American Scott Speed is the favourite after impressing the outfit during a recent test.


Klien said he believed that he had done as much as he could this season to stake his claim to the race seat.


"Coming into this season it was always made clear to me that Tonio would get his opportunity to race. I feel that I have done a good job in the first three races and I am pleased with my performance, qualifying no lower than seventh in all three races and scoring points in Australia and Malaysia. As a racing driver, of course I want to race and I am sure I will find it very difficult to watch from the pits. But I have always understood the reasons behind this strategy and I am comfortable with it. I wish Tonio the very best of luck and will do all I can to help him and the team," Klien was quoted as saying.

Original article from Car