Five drivers’ and four constructors’ titles headline a CV that includes 75 world championship grand prix wins, enough for sixth on the all-time list behind Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, Williams and Lotus.
It also has a major junior driver programme, which has launched the careers of many successful drivers, including Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.
For this list of top 10 F1 drivers, we’ve taken into account the amount of success the racers scored with Red Bull and its sister team Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri, the impact they had and the circumstances of their time within the Red Bull fold. It doesn’t count their achievements at other teams.
Team years: 2019 (Toro Rosso), 2019-20 (Red Bull)
Races with the teams: 38 (12 Toro Rosso, 26 Red Bull)
Team wins: 0
Team titles: 0
Sebastien Buemi or Jaime Alguersuari could have taken this spot. Both had their moments at Toro Rosso and were part of the programme longer than Albon, with Buemi also going on to serious achievements in the World Endurance Championship and Formula E.
But Albon, with a surprise and late call-up, made it into the lead Red Bull squad – and scored podiums once there.
Albon was on the verge of an FE programme when Daniel Ricciardo leaving Red Bull triggered a shuffle that put Pierre Gasly alongside Max Verstappen and Albon into Toro Rosso, as team-mate to Daniil Kvyat.
The Anglo-Thai proved capable of bouncing back from crashes and showed flashes of brilliance, including a drive to sixth place in the German GP, his first experience of an F1 car in the wet.
With Gasly struggling, Albon was promoted to the Red Bull squad for September’s Belgian GP, just his 13th F1 start. Although he too failed to get close to Verstappen, Albon didn’t get as mired in the midfield as much as Gasly and did enough to keep the drive for 2020.
Sadly, he wasn’t able to do enough in his second F1 season. There were two podiums, but Albon was again too far away from Verstappen and was rarely close enough to help Red Bull with strategic options. He was dropped at the end of 2020, though Red Bull placed him in the DTM ahead of Albon’s F1 return with Williams for 2022.
Team years: 2014 (Toro Rosso), 2015-16 (Red Bull), 2016-17 (Toro Rosso), 2019-20 (Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri)
Races with the teams: 110 (89 Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri, 21 Red Bull)
Team wins: 0
Team titles: 0
Has anyone had quite as many Red Bull chances as Daniil Kvyat? Helped by his 89 starts for Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri, the Russian is the third-highest points scorer for the ‘B’ team, behind Gasly and Carlos Sainz Jr.
After becoming GP3 champion, Kvyat graduated to F1 in 2014. He did well enough alongside the experienced Jean-Eric Vergne (who outscored Kvyat 22-8) to take the Red Bull seat vacated by Ferrari-bound Vettel for 2015.
Kvyat was second in the chaotic Hungarian GP and scored three more points than unfortunate team-mate Ricciardo, though the Australian remained at the head of Red Bull’s charge.
Kvyat took another podium in the 2016 Chinese GP, the third round of the season, but already he was in trouble given Verstappen’s rapid rise. The Dutchman replaced him for round five, something Kvyat struggled to process while back at Toro Rosso, not helped by the fact Verstappen won first time out for Red Bull in the Spanish GP.
Kvyat’s struggles continued in 2017 and he lacked consistency. He was dropped after crashing out of the Singapore GP, though scored a point in his one-off ‘return’ in the US GP.
A year out as Ferrari’s simulator driver preceded another Toro Rosso deal for 2019. He did a solid job, though struggled to match Gasly when the Frenchman joined him after being replaced by Albon at Red Bull.
Gasly was well ahead in the renamed AlphaTauri team in 2020, scoring more than twice Kvyat’s points tally. Kvyat, despite some strong performances, was finally replaced for 2021 by the next potential star in the Red Bull junior ranks, Yuki Tsunoda.
8. Pierre Gasly
Team years: 2017-18 (Toro Rosso), 2019 (Red Bull), 2019-22 (Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri)
Races with the teams: 108 (96 Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri, 12 Red Bull)
Team wins: 1
Team titles: 0
Judged just on his time at the senior squad, Gasly would not be as high on this list. But his performances with the Toro Rosso and rebranded AlphaTauri team proved that the Frenchman is one of the leading talents in F1’s tight midfield.
Another graduate of Red Bull’s junior programme, Gasly made five starts for Toro Rosso at the end of 2017 before his first full campaign alongside Brendon Hartley. Gasly won the intra-team fight in 2018, nailed the days when the Toro Rosso was competitive and earned a Red Bull seat when Ricciardo walked out.
His 12-race stint at the ‘A’ team was marked by struggles to get close to Verstappen, racing slower cars in the midfield and some issues working with the team to find solutions. He was replaced by Albon and returned to Toro Rosso, but quickly recovered from the setback.
Gasly then became one of F1’s most impressive performers. He scored a fine podium in the 2019 Brazilian GP and led the line for AlphaTauri. Had F1 rookie Tsunoda come close to matching Gasly’s 2021 score, the team would have beaten Alpine for fifth in the constructors’ championship.
And, of course, there was the special day at Monza in 2020. Gasly took advantage of a safety car and Lewis Hamilton/Mercedes error to hold off Carlos Sainz’s McLaren to win the Italian GP.
Despite the success it became clear Gasly was never going to get back to the main Red Bull squad and, after a generally disappointing 2022 season with the awkward AT03, he finally left for pastures new at Alpine.
7. Carlos Sainz
Source: Autosport