AUGUST 25, 2004

Klien and Jaguar

There have been lots of rumours in recent days about the future of Christian Klien at Jaguar Racing but there does not seem to be very much logic being applied in any of them. Klien is a Red Bull protege and landed at Jaguar Racing this year largely thanks to a sizeable chunk of cash from Red Bull. The young Austrian has struggled this year but has not done as badly as perhaps some of the results might suggest and there are influential people within the team who feel it would illogical to drop Klien after spending a year giving him the chance to get to know the tracks, the cars and the team.

The rumours are believed to have come from Austria and one can assume that they were probably leaked by Red Bull, perhaps as a means of putting pressure on Jaguar as negotiations over a new sponsorship deal takes place. Red Bull has been linked with a possible takeover of the team but that does not look like happening because Ford and Red Bull have not been able to reach an agreement.