Christian Klien

Christian Klien Klien at the inaugural Honda F1 Charity Open Day Born 7 February 1983 (1983-02-07) (age 28) Formula One World Championship career Nationality Austrian Active years 2004–2006, 2010 Teams Jaguar, Red Bull, Hispania Races 51 (49 starts) Championships 0 Wins 0 Podiums 0 Career points 14 Pole positions 0 Fastest laps 0 First race 2004 Australian Grand Prix Last race 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2010 position 27th (0 pts) 24 Hours of Le Mans career Participating years 2008–2009 Teams Team Peugeot Total Best finish 3rd (2008) Class wins 0

Christian Klien (born 7 February 1983) is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver. In total he has scored 14 points in Formula One. Klien currently drives for Aston Martin Racing in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup

Racing career

Born in Hohenems, Klien started his motorsport career in his early teens. He raced in karting championships in both Austria and Switzerland, before moving to Formula BMW. After winning several titles in lower Formulas, Klien moved into Formula One, driving for the Jaguar Racing team, alongside Mark Webber. At the end of 2004, however, Jaguar sold its Formula One team to Red Bull, which renamed it Red Bull Racing. In an unusual arrangement, Klien shared a race seat with Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi. He stayed at Red Bull for 2006, whilst Liuzzi moved to the Red Bull junior team, Scuderia Toro Rosso.

After an unsuccessful 2006, Klien's old teammate Mark Webber replaced him for the 2007 season. Klien was offered alternatives to Formula One for 2007, including driving in the ChampCar series, but he refused and aimed for a seat in Formula One. He secured the test driver's seat at Honda, despite competition from other drivers, including Gary Paffett.

On 2 February 2008 Klien signed as BMW Sauber's reserve and test driver for the 2008 Formula One season, alongside Estonian Marko Asmer.

Pre-Formula One

Klien became enthused about racing when his dad brought him to watch a Go-Kart race. This enthusiasm for the sport was only increased after meeting Brazilian Formula One driver Ayrton Senna.^[1] The Austrian started his career at the age of 13.^[2] From 1996 to 1998, Klien won several kart races in both Switzerland and his native Austria, becoming the Suisse champion in his first year.

In 1999, Klien moved to racing in the Formula BMW ADAC Junior Cup, winning four races and finishing fourth in the series.^[2] The following year, he moved into the main Formula BMW ADAC Championship with Team Rosberg, finishing the series ranked tenth overall and third in the rookie rankings.^[2] Continuing in the series in 2001, Klien managed to win five races, and ended up third in the series.^[2] Joining JD Motorsport for the Italian winter Formula Renault series, he won one event, which lead to a drive for the team in German Formula Renault for 2002.^[2]

Klien won four races, winning the German title, and finishing fifth in the European series. From there, Klien moved into the Formula Three Euroseries, with Mucke Motorsport, winning four races and finishing runner-up to Ryan Briscoe. Klien also won the 2003 Marlboro Masters event at Zandvoort.^[2]

Formula One

Klien driving for Jaguar at the 2004 Belgian Grand Prix, where he scored his first Formula One points

2004: Jaguar

Main article: Jaguar Racing

In December 2003, Klien was signed as a race driver for the Jaguar Formula One team for the 2004 season,^[3] replacing Justin Wilson, who had replaced Antônio Pizzonia for the final 5 Grand Prix of the 2003 season.^[4] He had significant pressure on him as second driver to his more experienced teammate Mark Webber, but was the first driver to ever outqualify Webber from the same team.

Klien proved to be considerably reliable over the season, retiring only on 4 occasions out of the possible 18. Klien's only points scoring finish in his debut season came in Belgium, where Klien finished sixth; scoring 3 Championship points. He finished alongside Cristiano da Matta and Nick Heidfeld in joint 16th in the Drivers' Championship.

2005–2006: Red Bull Racing

Main article: Red Bull Racing

Klien in qualifying at the 2005 United States Grand Prix

2005

Jaguar were bought out in November 2004 by Austrian energy drink company Red Bull and were renamed Red Bull Racing.^[5] During winter testing in 2005, Klien tested several times for Red Bull Racing alongside Vitantonio Liuzzi and David Coulthard. Klien secured the second race seat at Red Bull, alongside Coulthard. Klien started the year with points finishes in the first two races before retiring in Bahrain before the race had even started due to an electrical problem.

With both Klien and Liuzzi signed to race for the Red Bull team in 2005, Red Bull announced that Liuzzi would be racing at the next 4 rounds in San Marino, Spain, Monaco and the European Grands Prix instead of Klien.^[6] Originally, Klien was ineligible to be a third driver at these Grand Prix, as he had competed in over six Grand Prix the previous year, but after a majority of teams asked the FIA to remove this ruling, Klien was allowed to take this role at Imola.^[7]

The Austrian returned to the race seat for the Canadian Grand Prix and maintained his race seat thanks to his strong performances and Red Bull's increased number of seats from the purchase of the Minardi team (which was renamed Scuderia Toro Rosso, Italian for "Team Red Bull") in 2006.^[8] Klien finished his second year in Formula One with two further points finishes: an 8th place finish in Turkey and a 5th at the season-finale in China. After a promising performance in China, it was confirmed in December 2005 that Klien would drive for the Red Bull Racing outfit alongside David Coulthard for the 2006 season.

2006

Klien driving for RBR at the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix

Klien started 2006 strongly, qualifying in the top 10 for the first 2 races of the season. In Bahrain he finished 8th, scoring a point. However, in Malaysia he collided with Kimi Räikkönen on the first lap and had to pit with suspension damage, before eventually dropping out with a hydraulic failure.

In 2006, Klien was unsuccessful in comparison to his more experienced teammate David Coulthard, as the Brit scored the team's first podium and was more consistent than Klien throughout the season. In August 2006, it was confirmed that Klien would not stay with the Red Bull team for the upcoming 2007 season, or at least as a race driver, due to Red Bull's signing of Mark Webber.^[9] After the 2 points finishes in Bahrain and Germany, there was some uncertainty as to where Klien would go next in his racing career, speculation suggested America as a logical choice for the Austrian, but he refused a ChampCar seat in a Red Bull-backed team for 2007, preferring to chase a Formula One drive with another team.^[10] As a result, the team announced that Klien had been dropped for the last three races of the season in favour of test driver Robert Doornbos.^[11]

2007–2009: Honda F1 and BMW Sauber

Main articles: Honda Racing F1 and BMW Sauber

Klien driving a Honda RA107 at the 2007 Goodwood Festival of Speed

Klien testing for BMW Sauber in Bahrain prior to the 2009 season

On 15 November 2006, Honda Racing announced the signing of Christian Klien as their test and reserve driver for the 2007 season.^[12] The Austrian made his debut for the Japanese works team at the Circuit de Catalunya, during the early pre-season testing during late November 2006. At the 2007 British Grand Prix, he replaced the injured Jenson Button for the second free practice session on Friday.^[13] On 11 July 2007, Klien was released by Honda F1 to test with Spyker with a view to replacing Christijan Albers who was released because of sponsorship problems.^[14] However, the seat went to Japanese driver Sakon Yamamoto.

In 2008 Christian signed as BMW Sauber's test and reserve driver for the 2008 Formula One season. He also signed with Peugeot to race in 24 Hours of Le Mans. Driving the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP he finished third overall with Ricardo Zonta and Franck Montagny. In October he participated in Petit Le Mans in the American Le Mans Series, driving with Peugeot's factory drivers Marc Gené and Nicolas Minassian.

Klien remained in the position of BMW Sauber's test and reserve driver for 2009.^[15] He also returned to Le Mans with Peugeot, finishing sixth overall in a 908 shared with Pedro Lamy and Minassian.

For 2010, Klien was understood to be an option for Sauber before the seat went to Pedro de la Rosa.

2010: Hispania

Main article: Hispania Racing

Klien was then tipped to become Hispania Racing's reserve driver despite being second favourite to ex-US F1 man José María López but neither Klien or López got the seat. It went to former Super Aguri F1 and Spyker F1 driver Sakon Yamamoto. However, he was later signed by Hispania as well as Yamamoto.^[16] He took part in his first Grand Prix weekend for three years at the Spanish Grand Prix, where he drove in the first practice session in place of Karun Chandhok. He replaced Chandhok again at the European Grand Prix where his session was made difficult by problems with his car. At the Singapore Grand Prix he was confirmed as a replacement for the ill Sakon Yamamoto, marking his first grand prix since the 2006 Italian Grand Prix.^[17] He qualified in 22nd place, over a second ahead of team mate Bruno Senna, and ran just ahead of him in the race until a mechanical problem forced him to retire. He replaced Yamamoto for the final two races of the season in Brazil and Abu Dhabi,^[18][19] but the team did not retain his services into the 2011 season.

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team Name	Races	Poles	Wins	Points	Final Placing
1999	Formula BMW Junior	ADAC Sport München	20	1	3	193	4th
2000	Formula BMW ADAC	Team Rosberg	19	0	0	57	10th
2001	Formula BMW ADAC	Team Rosberg	19	3	5	232	3rd
2002	Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup	JD Motorsport	8	0	0	92	6th
	Formula Renault 2000 Germany	JD Motorsport	14	2	4	278	1st
2003	Formula Three Euroseries	Mücke Motorsport	20	6	3	89	2nd
	Masters of Formula Three	Mücke Motorsport	1	0	1	N/A	1st
2004	Formula One	Jaguar	18	0	0	3	16th
2005	Formula One	Red Bull	15	0	0	9	15th
2006	Formula One	Red Bull	15	0	0	2	18th
2007	Formula One	Honda	Test driver
2008	Formula One	BMW Sauber	Test driver
	Le Mans 24 Hours LMP1 class	Peugeot Sport Total	1	0	0	N/A	3rd
	American Le Mans Series LMP1 class	Team Peugeot Total	1	0	0	26	17th
2009	Formula One	BMW Sauber	Test driver
	Le Mans 24 Hours LMP1 class	Team Peugeot Total	1	0	0	N/A	6th
	American Le Mans Series LMP1 class	Team Peugeot Total	1	0	0	20	25th
	Le Mans Series LMP1 class	Team Peugeot Total	1	1	0	11	19th
2010	Formula One	Hispania Racing	3	0	0	0	27th
2011	Le Mans 24 Hours LMP1 class	Aston Martin Racing	1	0	0	N/A	NC
	Le Mans Series LMP1 class	Aston Martin Racing	1	0	0	0	NC

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	DC	Points
2003	ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg	Dallara F303/008	HWA-Mercedes	HOC 1 4	HOC 2 6	ADR 1 3	ADR 2 21	PAU 1 Ret	PAU 2 7	NOR 1 Ret	NOR 2 10	LMS 1 2	LMS 2 1	NÜR 1 Ret	NÜR 2 1	A1R 1 5	A1R 2 5	ZAN 1 1	ZAN 2 2	HOC 3 23	HOC 4 3	MAG 1 Ret	MAG 2 3	2nd	89

Complete Formula One results

(key)

Yr	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	WDC	Points
2004	Jaguar Racing	Jaguar R5	Cosworth CR-6 3.0 V10	AUS 11	MAL 10	BHR 14	SMR 14	ESP Ret	MON Ret	EUR 12	CAN 9	USA Ret	FRA 11	GBR 14	GER 10	HUN 13	BEL 6	ITA 13		JPN 12	BRA 14		16th	3
		Jaguar R5B																	CHN Ret
2005	Red Bull Racing	Red Bull RB1	Cosworth TJ2005 3.0 V10	AUS 7	MAL 8	BHR DNS	SMR TD	ESP TD	MON TD	EUR TD	CAN 8	USA DNS	FRA Ret	GBR 15	GER 9	HUN Ret	TUR 8	ITA 13	BEL 9	BRA 9	JPN 9	CHN 5	15th	9
2006	Red Bull Racing	Red Bull RB2	Ferrari 056 2.4 V8	BHR 8	MAL Ret	AUS Ret	SMR Ret	EUR Ret	ESP 13	MON Ret	GBR 14	CAN 11	USA Ret	FRA 12	GER 8	HUN Ret	TUR 11	ITA 11	CHN	JPN	BRA		18th	2
2007	Honda Racing F1 Team	Honda RA107	Honda RA807E 2.4 V8	AUS	MAL	BHR	ESP	MON	CAN	USA	FRA	GBR TD	EUR	HUN	TUR	ITA	BEL	JPN	CHN	BRA			–	–
2010	Hispania Racing F1 Team	Hispania F110	Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8	BHR	AUS	MAL	CHN	ESP TD	MON	TUR	CAN	EUR TD	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	SIN Ret	JPN	KOR	BRA 22	ABU 20	27th	0

Sports car racing

Le Mans 24 Hours results

Year	Class	No	Tyres	Team	Car	Engine	Co-Drivers	Laps	Position	Class Pos.
2008	LMP1	9	M	Team Peugeot Total	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	Peugeot HDi 5.5L Turbo V12 (Diesel)	Franck Montagny Ricardo Zonta	379	3rd	3rd
2009	LMP1	7	M	Team Peugeot Total	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	Peugeot HDi 5.5L Turbo V12 (Diesel)	Nicolas Minassian Pedro Lamy	369	6th	6th
2011	LMP1	007	M	Aston Martin Racing	Aston Martin AMR-One	Aston Martin 2.0L Turbo I6	Stefan Mücke Darren Turner	4	55th DNF	16th DNF

American Le Mans Series Results

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Rank	Points
2008	Team Peugeot Total	LMP1	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	Peugeot HDi 5.5 L V12 (Diesel)	M	SEB	STP	LNB	UTA	LIM	MID	AME	MOS	DET	PET ovr:2 cls:2	MON	17th	26
2009	Team Peugeot Total	LMP1	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	Peugeot HDI 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel)	M	SEB ovr:5 cls:4	STP	LNB	UTA	LIM	MID	AME	MOS	PET	MON		25th	20

Le Mans Series Results

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	1	2	3	4	5	Rank	Points
2009	Team Peugeot Total	LMP1	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	Peugeot HDI 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel)	M	CAT	SPA ovr:1 cls:1	ALG	NÜR	SIL	19th	11
2011	Aston Martin Racing	LMP1	Lola-Aston Martin B09/60	Aston Martin 6.0 L V12	M	CAS	SPA	IMO	SIL1 ovr:9 cls:9	EST	NC	0

¹ Driver run for the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, no points awarded for the Le Mans Series.

See also

• List of Austrians in sports
• Famous Austrians

References

All Formula One race and championship results are taken from:

• Official Formula 1 Website. Archive: Results for 2004 – Present seasons www.formula1.com Retrieved 6 June 2006

Footnotes

1. ^ http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=36874
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f} GP Encyclopedia – Christian Klien GrandPrix.com. Retrieved 22 November 2006
3. ^ "Klien clinches Jaguar race seat for 2004" Official Formula One Website. Retrieved 22 November 2006
4. ^ "Klien replaces Wilson" BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 November 2006
5. ^ "Red Bull snaps up Jaguar F1 team" BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 November 2006
6. ^ "Imola race chance for Liuzzi" Official Formula One Website. Retrieved 22 November 2006
7. ^ "Red Bull secure Klien exemption" BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 November 2006
8. ^ "Red Bull swoop for Minardi deal" BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 November 2006
9. ^ "Webber confirmed at Red Bull" GrandPrix.com. Retrieved 23 November 2006
10. ^ "Matador no more – Klien bids Red Bull farewell" Official Formula One Website. Retrieved 23 November 2006
11. ^ "Klien out, Doornbos in at Red Bull Racing" GrandPrix.com. Retrieved 11 September 2006
12. ^ "Honda Racing F1 Team Announces 2007 Test Driver Line-Up" NewsOnF1.net. Retrieved 15 November 2006
13. ^ "Klien stands in for injured Button". flagworld.auto123.com. 2007-07-06. http://flagworld.auto123.com/en/racing/news/index,view.spy?artid=85719. Retrieved 2007-07-06. 
14. ^ "Klien closes on Spyker drive". itv-f1.com. 2007-07-12. http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=40020. Retrieved 2007-07-12. 
15. ^ "BMW confirm Heidfeld, Kubica for 2009". autosport.com. 2008-10-06. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/71185. Retrieved 2008-10-06. 
16. ^ "Wednesday's F1 gossip column". BBC News. 5 May 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8661668.stm. 
17. ^ "Klien stands in for ill Yamamoto". BBC News. 24 September 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9030027.stm. 
18. ^ Elizalde, Pablo (4 November 2010). "Klien replaces Yamamoto for Brazil". autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/87906. Retrieved 4 November 2010. 
19. ^ Beer, Matt (10 November 2010). "Klien retains Hispania seat for Abu Dhabi". autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88115. Retrieved 10 November 2010. 

External links

• Christian Klien Official website
• Christian Klien Unofficial Forum
• Christian Klien profile and statistics
• Christian Klien statistics
• Christian Klien statistics at Driver Database. (includes pre-F1 career)

Sporting positions
Preceded by Fabio Carbone	Formula Three Masters Winner 2003	Succeeded by Alexandre Prémat

Persondata
Name	Klien, Christian
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	7 February 1983
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death