Red Bull’s junior program underwent a real revolution before the 2026 season. Red Bull significantly reduced the number of supported drivers, and the head of the entire academy also changed. It appears that they are currently preparing young drivers for F1 in a longer-term perspective.
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Red Bull confirmed the full roster of its academy in mid-February. Previously, academy members had a winter training camp. In the preceding weeks, information gradually emerged about departures from this program, as well as transfers.
History and objectives of Red Bull’s junior program
Red Bull’s junior program has existed since 2001 and over a hundred drivers have passed through it. Since Red Bull has its teams in Formula 1, the main goal of the development program is to prepare drivers for F1 racing, with the first step being the junior team Toro Rosso / AlphaTauri / Racing Bulls, and then the main team. Eighteen drivers supported by Red Bull in junior series have advanced to F1, and two of them (Vettel and Verstappen) became world champions. In the F1 team lineups for the 2026 season, there are seven drivers who at some point in their careers were supported by Red Bull: Verstappen, Hadjar, Albon, Sainz, Lawson, Lindblad, and Gasly.
From 2026, the head of Red Bull’s development program is renowned engineer Guillaume “Rocky” Rocquelin. The Frenchman replaced Helmut Marko in this role, who was the creator and long-time head of the academy. In recent years, Red Bull’s junior program has undergone changes related to various ideas about its functioning. There was a period when they reduced the number of supported drivers, few academy graduates made it to Formula 1, and the second team stopped being called junior, instead being referred to as “sister.” At that time, the team, which is now called Racing Bulls, had drivers like De Vries, Ricciardo, and Tsunoda, who were no longer juniors. From 2024 onwards, there has been a renewed strong focus on juniors. In 2024, Liam Lawson advanced to F1, in 2025 Isack Hadjar, and in 2026 Arvid Lindblad. At the same time, the junior program roster underwent very significant changes, and they did not hesitate to drop unpromising candidates.
Red Bull also has a separate program aimed at women with F1 Academy in mind – Red Bull Academy Programme. In previous years, they cooperated with Honda’s development program Honda Formula Dream Project, but that cooperation has ended.
Red Bull’s junior program roster for 2026
Below I present the Red Bull junior program roster for 2026 in alphabetical order. Next to the name, I provide nationality and year of birth, and below are the racing series and teams they will race for in the 2026 season. The roster includes eight drivers and one female driver.
Chiara Bättig – Switzerland – 2010
Formula Winter Series – Campos Racing
F4 British Championship – Hitech TGR
Mattia Colnaghi – Italy / Argentina – 2008
FIA Formula 3 Championship – MP Motorsport
Nikola Tsolov – Bulgaria – 2006
FIA Formula 2 Championship – Campos Racing
Rocco Coronel – Netherlands – 2010
Formula Winter Series – Van Amersfoort Racing
F4 Spanish Championship – MP Motorsport
Melvin Kalousdian – Sweden – 2011
Ginetta Junior Championship –
Scott Lindblom – Sweden – 2010
UAE4 Series – Hitech
British F4 Championship – Hitech
Fionn McLaughlin – Ireland – 2007
Formula Regional Oceania Trophy – Hitech
FIA Formula 3 Championship – Hitech
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Ernesto Rivera – Mexico – 2008
Formula Regional Oceania Trophy – M2 Competition
FIA Formula 3 Championship – Campos Racing
Enzo Tarnvanichkul – Thailand – 2009
Eurocup-3 Spanish Winter Championship – Campos Racing
Eurocup-3 – Campos Racing
Changes in Red Bull’s junior program before the 2026 season
For the second consecutive year, Red Bull’s academy underwent very significant personnel changes. A year ago, Red Bull had thirteen drivers under its wing. Arvid Lindblad advanced to Formula 1 for the 2026 season. Six other drivers left (were released): Jules Caranta, Christopher El Feghali, Oliver Goethe, Pepe Marti, Niklas Schaufler, and Tim Tramnitz. This means that only six drivers remained in Red Bull’s academy for the next season. At the same time, they acquired three new ones: Chiara Bättig, Mattia Colnaghi, and Melvin Kalousdian. The rotations in the academy roster are so large that they currently have only one driver associated with it since 2023 (Enzo Tarnvanichkul). The rest have been in the academy for one or at most two years. In other academies, there are drivers supported for many years from karting through to Formula 2.
Among the drivers Red Bull gave up, those whose sporting form was too weak dominated – they showed no hope of advancing to F1. Others, like Pepe Martí and Tim Tramnitz, ended their junior series careers, had no chance of F1, so they moved to other racing series.
Discussion of Red Bull academy drivers at the beginning of 2026
The most interesting Red Bull junior is currently Nikola Tsolov from Bulgaria. Anyone who follows junior series has certainly heard about him, both positive and negative things. Tsolov joined Red Bull at the beginning of last year, previously he was under the wing of Fernando Alonso and Alpine. The Bulgarian is an interesting, aggressive driver, but also inconsistent. It seems that a positive breakthrough occurred for him in 2025, when he became vice-champion in F3. This year he is competing in F2, where after the first round he is leading the overall standings. This could be the next Red Bull junior to make it to F1, if he maintains his form in Formula 2 through the end of the year. I also expect that this year he will get a chance to drive F1 cars, also in training sessions. No driver from Bulgaria has previously raced in modern Formula 2, but about fifteen years ago they had a driver in GP2.
Red Bull has three drivers at the Formula 3 level: Mattia Colnaghi, Fionn McLaughlin, and Ernesto Rivera. All three are making their debut at this level in 2026, so probably only the best will remain in this academy. Mattia Colnaghi is a notable name because he decided to use an Argentine license (he has dual citizenship), so on social media he became very popular.
Red Bull has the most drivers at lower levels. Chiara Bättig, Rocco Coronel, Melvin Kalousdian, and Scott Lindblom recently finished competing in karting and are now just beginning to compete in single-seater cars. Kalousdian from Sweden is supposedly quite a talent, as he won a lot at a young age, but it will only show what he demonstrates in the Formulas.
Summary of Red Bull’s junior program in 2026
Over the last three seasons, Red Bull’s best junior has advanced to F1. In both Red Bull teams, there are currently only their graduates. There have been enough promotions that now there may be a longer break. Nikola Tsolov, if he performs very well this year in Formula 2, will be a candidate for promotion to Formula 1, but in my opinion he will have to wait another year. Promotion for 2027 would be possible if space opened up in the junior Racing Bulls team, but the chances of that are now small. The other Red Bull juniors are younger, so they must first break through in lower racing series, and that is not certain.
The team, apart from two full-time drivers and nine drivers in the academy, also has Yuki Tsunoda on reserve. More drivers work with them who work in the simulator or, for example, participate in demonstration drives, which they regularly organize in various cities. The reserve driver for the Racing Bulls team is Ayumu Iwasa.
Junior programs of other F1 teams in 2026
Junior (development) programs are run by most Formula 1 teams, and I will systematically discuss their rosters for the 2026 season. On the blog you will find detailed discussions of McLaren’s program (details), Mercedes (details), and Williams (details). Currently, 11 teams compete in F1, which have nine junior programs. Red Bull has a shared program for two teams. In recent weeks, Haas launched its program in cooperation with Toyota, and Audi also launched a new program. The only team without a classic development program is Cadillac, but this team does not currently need it. Instead, they support Colton Herta, who is preparing for his F1 debut.
