Red Bull confirm alternate route for new female driver in junior team announcement

The return of the Red Bull Driver Search resulted in two new additions to their junior team being confirmed.

Those new recruits are Eurocup-3 Championship leader Mattia Colnaghi, and 15-year-old Chiara Bättig from Switzerland. Rather than joining F1 Academy, Bättig is set for a Formula 4 drive next year with Red Bull backing.

Red Bull to go down F4 route with new female racer

The latest Red Bull Driver Search was a three-day assessment which took place in Portugal at the Estoril circuit. It was both an on and off track examination of promising young talent.

Bättig and Colnaghi both sufficiently impressed to earn themselves a spot in the prestigious Red Bull junior team, which over the years has produced multi-time World Champions Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen. Grand Prix winners Daniel Ricciardo, Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gasly are also among the graduates.

Swiss karting champion Bättig sampled single-seater machinery for the first time at the Red Bull Driver Search event. She turned heads on the track, and rather than joining the all-female F1 Academy series as a Red Bull talent, she will move from karting to Formula 4 in 2026.

“It means a lot to me to be a Red Bull junior driver,” she said.

“I think the Red Bull Junior Team is really exciting, and I think they are making really good progress with their drivers. It’s my first time in a single-seater car, we adapted really well and I’m happy about that.

“My ultimate goal is to reach Formula 1 and become World Champion. My plan for next year is to race in F4 and my mindset is that I know what I’m capable of. I hope to inspire young female karters to take the same journey I am making now.”

She is joined in making the Red Bull cut by Colnaghi, who has established himself as one of the brightest talents on the ladder to Formula 1.

Fresh off winning the Spanish F4 title, the 17-year-old Italian-Argentine racer is gunning for the Eurocup-3 crown. He leads the way by 12 points from Valerio Rinicella, with rounds at Spa, Jerez and the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to come.

A 2026 Formula 3 drive is in his future.

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Assessing the new recruits, Red Bull senior advisor and driver programme boss Helmut Marko said: “This was Chiara’s first time in a formula car, coming straight from karting, and her performance was very good.

“She was successful in karts and the speed she showed in the formula car means we are looking forward to a very successful season.

“Mattia is racing in Eurocup-3. He is leading the championship and will go to F3 and, as always, we want them to be frontrunners and, if possible, win the championship.”

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