Christian Klien: The Austrian Driver Who Raced for Jaguar, Red Bull and HRT

Christian Klien is an Austrian driver from Hohenems whose Formula One career ran from 2004 to 2010. He scored 14 championship points across 51 Grands Prix for Jaguar, Red Bull and HRT, and he spent time as a test and reserve driver for Honda and BMW Sauber. His career also passed through one of the sport's notable ownership changes, when Jaguar's team became Red Bull Racing.

Who was Christian Klien?

Klien is an Austrian racing driver born on 7 February 1983 in Hohenems. He competed in Formula One from 2004 to 2010 and collected 14 points from 51 starts. Beyond Formula One he raced endurance, sports car and V8 Supercar events, and later worked as a television pundit.

His career falls into three phases: the junior single-seater years, the Formula One seasons with three teams, and the sports car, touring car and GT work that followed. Each phase is covered below, with the seasons set out in the table near the end.

Three Formula One teams, 51 Grands Prix and a long second career in sports cars, touring cars and GT racing.

How did Klien start racing?

Klien began karting at the age of 13, after his father took him to watch a go-kart race. Meeting the Brazilian Formula One driver Ayrton Senna added to his enthusiasm. From 1996 to 1998 he won several kart races in Switzerland and Austria, and in his first year he became the Swiss champion.

In 1999 he entered the Formula BMW ADAC Junior Cup, where he won four races and finished fourth in the series. A year later he joined Team Rosberg in the main Formula BMW ADAC championship, finishing tenth overall and third in the rookie standings. In 2001 he won five races and placed third in the series.

Klien then raced in the Italian winter Formula Renault series with JD Motorsport and won one event. In 2002 he took the German Formula Renault title with four victories and finished fifth in the European series. In 2003 he moved to the Formula Three Euroseries with Mucke Motorsport, won four races and finished runner-up to Ryan Briscoe, and he also won the Marlboro Masters at Zandvoort.

How did Klien's first Formula One seasons unfold at Jaguar and Red Bull?

Klien joined Jaguar for 2004 as second driver to Mark Webber, and he was the first driver to outqualify Webber in that team. He retired from only four of the 18 races that season, scoring his one points finish of the year with sixth place in Belgium. He ended the year joint 16th in the standings, level with Cristiano da Matta and Nick Heidfeld.

Red Bull bought the Jaguar operation in November 2004 and renamed it Red Bull Racing. In 2005 Klien scored points in the first two races, then retired before the start in Bahrain with an electrical fault. Vitantonio Liuzzi took over for the next four rounds, and Klien returned for the Canadian Grand Prix. He later finished eighth in Turkey and fifth at the season finale in China.

For 2006 Klien kept his race seat alongside David Coulthard. He reached the top ten in qualifying at each of the first two races and took eighth in Bahrain for a point. In Malaysia he collided with Kimi Raikkonen on the opening lap, then retired with a hydraulic failure. Coulthard was the more consistent of the two and scored the team's first podium that season.

Why did Klien leave Red Bull?

Red Bull signed Mark Webber for 2007, and by August 2006 Red Bull had confirmed that Klien would not remain as a race driver. Reports pointed to the United States as a logical next step, and a ChampCar seat with a Red Bull-backed team was offered. He turned it down to keep chasing a Formula One drive with another team.

Klien was then dropped for the last three races of 2006 in favour of Robert Doornbos. He finished the season with two points finishes, in Bahrain and Germany.

What were the Honda and BMW Sauber years like?

Klien spent 2007 and 2008 in test and reserve roles. Honda signed him in November 2006, and he made his first test appearance at the Circuit de Catalunya in late November that year. He deputised for the injured Jenson Button in a practice session at the 2007 British Grand Prix. Honda released him in July 2007 so he could test for Spyker, but the Spyker seat went to Sakon Yamamoto.

In February 2008 he joined BMW Sauber as reserve and test driver, alongside Estonian Marko Asmer. Outside Formula One he also raced Peugeot sports prototypes. In 2008 he finished third overall at Le Mans in a Peugeot 908 HDi FAP with Ricardo Zonta and Franck Montagny, and that October he lined up for Petit Le Mans, a round of the American Le Mans Series, with Marc Gene and Nicolas Minassian.

He remained BMW Sauber's test and reserve driver through 2009 and returned to Le Mans, finishing sixth overall with Pedro Lamy and Minassian. For 2010 he was considered as an option for Sauber, but that seat went instead to Pedro de la Rosa.

Did Klien race for Hispania Racing in 2010?

Yes. Klien raced for Hispania Racing (HRT) in 2010, though only in part of the season. He was first tipped as the team's reserve driver, but Sakon Yamamoto got the seat, and Klien was later signed alongside him. He drove first practice at the Spanish Grand Prix and European Grand Prix, standing in for Karun Chandhok both times.

At the Singapore Grand Prix he replaced the ill Yamamoto and qualified 22nd, more than a second ahead of Bruno Senna. A mechanical problem ended his race. He then replaced Yamamoto again for the final two races, in Brazil and Abu Dhabi, and the team did not keep him on for 2011.

What did Klien do after Formula One?

Once his Formula One days ended, Klien turned to endurance events, touring cars and single-make work. A move to Peugeot for the 2012 World Endurance Championship was nearly agreed, but the manufacturer quit racing before the paperwork was finished. He drove in V8 Supercars, including the Bathurst 1000 alongside Russell Ingall.

In 2014 he signed with NewBlood By Morand Racing for their European Le Mans Series campaign. Since late 2012 he has written a monthly column for Pitpass.com. In 2017 he joined the Bundesheer, the Austrian Armed Forces, and kept racing alongside his military service.

From the start of the 2021 season he became an expert on ServusTV's Formula One coverage. That year he also drove a McLaren for JP Motorsport in three two-race rounds of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. In 2022 he raced GT3 machinery for the same team in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance and Sprint Cup series.

What does Klien's career look like season by season?