2026 will be Red Bull\u2019s 22nd season in Formula 1 and during that time they have had some of the sport\u2019s most impressive drivers.<\/p>\n
So while Isack Hadjar prepares to become the latest to drive the Red Bull car, we\u2019ve ranked the 14 who have done it previously.<\/p>\n
For clarity, it is drivers who have competed in a race for the team and only judging their time at Red Bull rather than what they achieved elsewhere. It is also not just been based on points and podiums but instead a more overall look at their careers.<\/p>\n
Ranking every Red Bull driver in history
\n14. Robert Doornbos<\/p>\n
Before Verstappen, Robert Doornbos was Red Bull\u2019s Dutchman but the latter did not leave as much of an impression as his compatriot did.<\/p>\n
He was a survivor from the Minardi team and after working with Christian Horner in F3000, was granted a reserve role with Red Bull following the takeover.<\/p>\n
He was given a chance in the seat in the final three races of the 2006 season but failed to finish higher than 12th in what were his final Formula 1 events.<\/p>\n
3 races
0 wins
0 podiums
0 points\u00a0<\/p>\n
13. Liam Lawson<\/p>\n
Trying to rate Liam Lawson\u2019s time at Red Bull is like trying to rate a footballer who only came on in the 80th minute, there\u2019s not a lot to go off.<\/p>\n
The team\u2019s instinct to not go with the more experienced Tsunoda meant Lawson went from being a substitute rookie to a driver at one of the biggest teams on the grid and up against an absolute teammate killer in Verstappen.<\/p>\n
Could he have done better than a DNF and a P12? Of course. Was that enough evidence to kick him out of the team? Definitely not.<\/p>\n
Lawson may well get another bite at the cherry down the line but his time at Racing Bulls proved he is more than capable of being on the F1 grid.<\/p>\n
2 races
0 wins
0 podiums
0 points<\/p>\n
12. Vitantonio Liuzzi<\/p>\n
Even before they had raced for the first team, there was a lot of attention paid to Red Bull\u2019s second seat as they seemingly signed two drivers for the spot \u2013 Christian Klien and Vitantonio Liuzzi.<\/p>\n
Come the opening race, Klien was given the nod meaning Liuzzi had to settle for a reserve role. Red Bull stuck to an agreement in the Italian\u2019s contract stating he would get a chance and he was dropped into the seat for the San Marino Grand Prix, scoring his first Formula 1 point with a P8.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, that would be the end of the good news for Liuzzi at Red Bull as he spun off in the next race in Spain and then crashed in Monaco. A P9 at the Nurburgring was his final outing before Klien was swapped back in.<\/p>\n
4 races
0 wins
0 podiums
1 point<\/p>\n
11. Christian Klien<\/p>\n
If Klien was the winner of the intra-team battle, it was more through a lack of other options than anything the Austrian did.<\/p>\n
He did open the year with back-to-back scores but would fail to score in consecutive races again that season. He ended the year 15th with nine points but Red Bull kept him for 2006.<\/p>\n
However, a P8 in the opening race in Bahrain would be his only score for the first 11 races and he was dropped after the 15th race of the year.<\/p>\n
28 races
0 wins
0 podiums
11 points<\/p>\n
10. Yuki Tsunoda<\/p>\n
Tsunoda may well have scored more points than the man he replaced but given how much longer he had to do it, that really isn\u2019t saying much.<\/p>\n
In fairness to the Japanese driver, the cards were stacked against him. First of all, the team clearly didn\u2019t fancy him as a leading driver which is why they promoted the much more inexperienced Lawson and then he was given almost zero prep time before dropping into one of the harder cars to drive on the grid.<\/p>\n
Tsunoda\u2019s performances still though should have been better and he has paid the price with his F1 career over for the time being.<\/p>\n
22 races
0 wins
0 podiums
30 points<\/p>\n
9. Pierre Gasly<\/p>\n
When speaking about Red Bull\u2019s ruthless driver decisions, it is Pierre Gasly that often gets brought up as the prime example.<\/p>\n
In a perfect world, academy product Gasly would have made a seamless switch from Toro Rosso to Red Bull but Ricciardo\u2019s sudden departure to Renault expedited the process.<\/p>\n
A P17 quali spot in his first race was a sign of the trouble coming ahead and Gasly never seemed to be able to swing momentum back in his favour.<\/p>\n
By midseason, there were real question marks over his future and after a P6 in Hungary, the team cut the cord and put Albon in the seat.<\/p>\n
Looking back though, Gasly\u2019s results were not all that bad. He scored points in nine of his 12 races in the team including a high of P4 at Silverstone and if given more time, as well as proper backing, he may well have moved even further up the grid.<\/p>\n
His subsequent career at AlphaTauri and now Alpine proves he was not completely useless and the subsequent quick dropping of Albon could have been avoided if Horner and co. kept faith with Gasly.<\/p>\n
12 races
0 wins
0 podiums
63 points<\/p>\n
8. Alex Albon<\/p>\n
Another driver to be chewed up and spit out by the Red Bull machine was Albon who replaced Gasly mid-season during 2019. But as the Frenchman found out before him, it was a very hot seat to stay in.<\/p>\n
He started strongly with a seven-race run of finishing in the top six and looked to be on for his first podium until that infamous spin by Lewis Hamilton in Brazil.<\/p>\n
Even his second year was not too bad but his performances came in comparison to Verstappen\u2019s which is always a harsh light to judge someone on. While the Dutchman finished third in the 2020 season, Albon was down in seventh and given the boot.<\/p>\n
Like Gasly, Albon has rebuilt his career elsewhere and is doing well at Williams.<\/p>\n
26 races
0 wins
2 podiums
181 points<\/p>\n
7. Daniil Kvyat<\/p>\n
Daniil Kvyat is a driver whose performances perhaps have a poorer perception than they deserve.<\/p>\n
In his defence, he has always had big shoes to fill including Ricciardo at Toro Rosso and then Vettel at Red Bull but his first year saw him score a podium and become the second youngest driver at the time ever to do so.<\/p>\n
Kvyat\u2019s downfall though was a penchant for crashes, most notably at Suzuka where he flipped in qualifying but he ended 2015 ahead of Ricciardo by three points.<\/p>\n
Come 2016 and Red Bull were itching for an excuse to get their wunderkind Verstappen in the car and a collision with Vettel at his home race was enough for them to pull the trigger.<\/p>\n
21 races
0 wins
2 podiums
116 points<\/p>\n
6. Sergio Perez<\/p>\n
Like a Vincent van Gogh painting, Perez\u2019s work at Red Bull is being appreciated more and more as time goes on.<\/p>\n
Given the young drivers Red Bull had burned through in an attempt to replace Daniel Ricciardo, they went outside of the family to sign Perez and it proved a wise decision.<\/p>\n
He scored five podiums and a race win in 2021 but more importantly, he was the perfect wingman to Verstappen and did everything he could to secure the Dutchman\u2019s first title.<\/p>\n
2022 saw him attempt to move out of Verstappen\u2019s shadow and prevent himself from always being the bridesmaid but the Dutchman was always just a level above Perez.<\/p>\n
2023 and the dominance of the car meant even underwhelming performances often resulted in a podium but 2024 saw Perez\u2019s confidence fall off and his results with it.<\/p>\n
He finished eighth in the championship while Verstappen won it and Red Bull opted to part ways.<\/p>\n
90 races
5 wins
29 podiums
932 points<\/p>\n
5. David Coulthard<\/p>\n
If we were going off average points scored, Coulthard would be fifth last but that would be a grave injustice to what the Flying Scot brought to the team.<\/p>\n
First of all, he brought some respectability to this new team owned by a fizzy drink company and was a guiding hand in the early years. But even more crucially, it was Coulthard whose words convinced Adrian Newey to join.<\/p>\n
On track, he never won with the team but did score two podiums \u2013 an impressive feat given where Red Bull started and the Scot being near the end of his career.<\/p>\n
71 races
0 wins
2 podiums
60 points<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust.<\/p>\n 4. Mark Webber<\/p>\n Nowadays, Webber may seem like the second driver to Vettel\u2019s No.1 status but dismissing him as that would be a disservice to him.<\/p>\n The Australian joined in the team\u2019s early years and while he dealt with an unreliable car in 2007, he was able to produce more consistent results in 2008.<\/p>\n After the team took a step up in competitiveness in 2009, Webber rose to the challenge, scoring three podiums in the first eight races and hinting at a title push.<\/p>\n In 2010, he was a genuine title contender but after missing out that year, he moved into the shadow of the emerging German.<\/p>\n Still, nine wins \u2013 the third most of a driver in the team\u2019s history \u2013 and 41 podiums prove how good Webber was for Red Bull, even if he was never at the level of his team-mate.<\/p>\n 129 races More on Red Bull from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n *\u00a0F1 uncovered: Exposing the hidden details of the Red Bull RB21<\/a> 3. Daniel Ricciardo<\/p>\n There will always be a sense of what could have been when it comes to Ricciardo. Whether it was the money or a prediction of what was to come, Ricciardo opted to leave his home for pastures new at Renault and if his time at the French constructor is often harshly underrated, what came next is not.<\/p>\n But at Red Bull, he seemed a genuine world championship contender. A balls-to-the-wall approach combined with an infectious personality made him a fan favourite and he was the best non-Mercedes driver in the 2016 season.<\/p>\n Were world titles in his future? Maybe or maybe not given Mercedes\u2019 supremacy and Verstappen\u2019s rise to one of the best of all-time but his later career should not take anything away from just how good Ricciardo was during his Red Bull stint.<\/p>\n 100 races 2. Sebastian Vettel<\/p>\n If Coulthard established the team, Vettel was the one who transformed it into a title-winning outfit.<\/p>\n Perhaps more than any other team, Red Bull has believed in its youth prospects and Vettel proved deserving of that faith early on.<\/p>\n A win with Toro Rosso put him on the map but his first year at the higher-pressure Red Bull did not faze him, finishing second in the 2009 Championship.<\/p>\n Then Vettel turned into a ruthlessly efficient driver. If 2010 was a close battle with Fernando Alonso, 2011 and what came afterwards was a display of dominance that was previously synonymous with his famous countryman.<\/p>\n As with many records, Vettel would later lose them to a man yet to appear on this list but his 2013 victory remains the highlight of a remarkable run.<\/p>\n Many thought Vettel would be the best Red Bull driver for a long time, until a certain Dutchman came along\u2026<\/p>\n 113 races 1. Max Verstappen<\/p>\n Where would Red Bull be without Max Verstappen?<\/p>\n If Helmut Marko and Christian Horner could have come up with a perfect story, it would not be too dissimilar from Verstappen\u2019s. A highly rated young prospect wins in his first race with the team and then goes on to become a dominant four-time World Champion. All while doing it with an F-you attitude that is very much on brand.<\/p>\n While seasons like 2023 show how suffocating his consistency can be, the best version of Verstappen often comes in the wet and 2016 and 2024 in Sao Paulo are both examples of when he has operated at a different level to the rest of the field.<\/p>\n The discussion of where Verstappen ranks as a driver has moved past just Red Bull and he is now debated as one of the best of all-time, even still at the young age of 28.<\/p>\n More titles surely lie ahead and the only man who seems capable of stopping that is Verstappen himself.<\/p>\n 210* races
9 wins
41 podiums
978.5 points<\/p>\n
*\u00a0Max Verstappen reacts to hearing Red Bull-Ford engine for first time<\/a>
*\u00a0Max Verstappen confirms worst-kept secret with permanent F1 number change<\/a><\/p>\n
7 wins
29 podiums
956 points<\/p>\n
4 World Championships
38 wins
65 podiums
1,577 points<\/p>\n
4* World Championships
71* wins
127* podiums
3,382.5* points<\/p>\n