Helmut Marko sees a lull in motorsport's junior ranks with no outstanding talent coming to the fore, forcing Red Bull to turn to karting in search of tomorrow's stars.
As Red Bull plays musical chairs at Toro Rosso, initiating permutations between Dany Kvyat, Pierre Gasly and its latest recruit Brendon Hartley, the energy drink company sees no one following the Frenchman in its junior bull stable.
"That's right," said the Austrian when asked about the talent shortage.
"There is no one right now in Formula 2 and 3 and GP3, so we took another path and signed four young kart drivers at the end of September," Marko explained.
"One of them is Jack Doohan, the 14-year-old son of MotoGP legend Mick."
The temporary shortfall, while perhaps problematic for Red Bull, has proven beneficial to Toro Rosso's Brendon Hartley however as the Kiwi seeks to take full advantage of a fortunate opportunity which has come his way.
"There are not so many drivers with a super license," Marko said in Austin.
"Brendon was always fast as a Red Bull junior, he just didn't withstand the pressure and made mistakes."
Marko never lost track of his former junior however, and watched him blossom as "the fastest Porsche driver" in the Le Mans series.
"We always had contact with him, also through personal sponsorship," he said.
"When it came clear that we needed someone, we wanted someone from our pool. Sebastien Buemi had a contract with Toyota which may not have been a problem, but he also has a contract with Dams (for Formula E).
"But Brendon was released so we decided on him," Marko added.
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