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I spoke with him in Trois Rivieres about that actually - he fully admits that he was over his head in some of the series he was racing in for Red Bull - just too young and not ready for it... Even coming back to North America, putting a 16 year old in Atlantic is just too young. He did ok, all things considered, but the expectations from Red Bull were just too much given his age. When he took a step back, and did a season of Star Mazda, he started to hit his stride again and won the championship.
I think he's definitely one of the most naturally talented young American drivers to come along in a long time, but I think he was burned by Red Bull pushing him into series and expecting results when he had barely learned how to drive a car. I don't think he's the only driver to get that treatment from Red Bull though... on the other hand, who knows where he'd be without them.
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