We all have likes and dislikes, some are based on fact most on emotion. I am of the firm belief that fast forwarding a driver to F1 is in general a very very bad idea, as you will have the carcasses of a driving career lying by the wayside, when the drivers in question could most likely have had a better chance were then not pushed along as fast as they were.
Klein, Alguersauri are perfect examples of that and I expect Sirotkin to be the next one.
Personally I have always felt that of the Red Bull juniors who were dropped, Alguersauri appeared to have the most upside. However as stated fact is that he of all the drivers is basically without a drive since he was dropped, shows how much I know compared to those who do actually know.
This intriguing post was slightly off-topic on the silly season thread, but I'd like to hear more opinions on this subject.
KWSN - DSM makes two good points. The first being that the Red Bull programme pushes people too young, too soon. For someone like Alguersuari to be all washed-up, career over at 21 does seem a rather cruel and summary fate.
The second observation in the post is that RBR rejects never make it back. Is this really because people actually know what we don't? As an outsider, with little reference, I found it impossible to evaluate Alguersuari versus Buemi . . . or either against Ricciardo. Do other team managers, with similarly sparse information, even consider these guys ?
Klien was highly rated by Honda and I believe he now does some simulation work for Williams . . . but his F1 driver chances were killed by Red Bull with one stone. Scott Speed's meteoric rise quickly ended in a fist-fight with STR's principal.
I can understand Red Bull's need to promote Ricciardo. But is it because he is the next best thing, or because their driver programme was simply looking - too obviously - like a very early graveyard for talent?