Patrick Friesacher

Patrick Friesacher (born 26 September 1980) is an Austrian racing driver. He is the longest-serving Red Bull driver, and also drove for the Minardi Formula One team during the first half of the 2005 season.

After his departure from Formula One, Friesacher became an exhibition driver for Red Bull Racing and a instructor at the Red Bull Ring. Between 2017 and 2018, he was one of the drivers of the two-seater F1 Experiences cars.

Friesacher started out racing motocross at the age of 5, but switched to kart racing in 1990, after watching a race at the A1-Ring. He became the first Red Bull junior driver in 1994. In 1995, Friesacher raced in the Torneo delle Industrie, finishing in the 11th position.

Friesacher suffered a crash at Schwarzlhalle in 1997 resulted in severe leg injuries that left him in the hospital for six weeks and in a wheelchair for seven weeks, meaning he had to learn how to walk again.

The next year, Friesacher moved to the French Formula Campus series, finishing third in the season. In 1999, Friesacher advanced to the French Formula 3 'B' class, coming third. He moved to the German Formula 3 series in 2000, securing two wins at Sachsenring and Oschersleben to finish sixth in the standings.

In 2001, Friesacher jumped to Formula 3000, where he scored three top-six finishes for the Red Bull Junior team, finishing 13th. He stayed with Red Bull for the 2002 season, achieving his maiden podium at Monaco and improving his Drivers' Championship record to tenth place.

He finished fifth in 2003 season, winning the Hungarian round after recovering from a broken arm sustained during a race earlier in the year. For the 2004 season, he joined the Super Nova squad. After a bad start to his fourth Formula 3000 season, Friesacher switched to Coloni after four races. He again finished fifth in the standings, with another race win at the Hungaroring.

At the end of 2004, Friesacher was dropped from the Red Bull Junior Team, after refusing to move to Formula Nippon.