Christian Klien

Christian Klien (born February 7, 1983): An Austrian racing driver who competed in Formula One across three separate stints between 2004 and 2010, representing his country during a lean period for Austrian motorsport. In December 2003, Klien was signed as a race driver for the Jaguar Formula One team for the 2004 season, replacing Justin Wilson. His only points-scoring finish during his debut season came at the Belgian Grand Prix, where he finished sixth and earned three championship points. When Jaguar was purchased by Austrian energy drink company Red Bull in November 2004 and renamed Red Bull Racing, Klien remained with the team.

He started the 2005 season strongly with points finishes in the first two races, but was then subjected to an awkward driver-sharing experiment where he had to rotate his seat with Vitantonio Liuzzi mid-season. Despite this disruption, Klien managed two further points finishes: eighth place in Turkey and fifth at the season finale in China. The 2006 season saw Klien score an additional three points before Red Bull's signing of Mark Webber meant Klien would not continue as a race driver for 2007. After several years away from Formula One, Klien returned in 2010 with the new HRT (Hispania Racing Team), marking his final stint in the championship.

Across his Formula One career, he participated in 51 World Championship Grands Prix and scored 14 championship points, with a best finish of fifth place achieved on three occasions. Following his Formula One career, Klien successfully transitioned to endurance racing, competing extensively in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship, where he has continued to race at the highest level of sports car competition.