Red Bull has signed up its first female driver to its respected driver development junior team.
Dutch driver Beitske Visser, having won two races in 2012, will race this year with the energy drink company’s backing in the German single seater category ADAC Formel Masters in 2013.
The 18 year old is “the first ever female to join our squad”, Red Bull said in a statement.
In charge of the junior programme is Helmut Marko, who in February declared that US-based Indycar and Nascar star Danica Patrick has done “not enough” to attract Red Bull’s attention.
“We are looking for drivers based on performance, not by quota,” he said.
The most famous graduate of Red Bull’s junior team is Sebastian Vettel, but also making it to Formula 1 from the same programme were Jean-Eric Vergne, Daniel Ricciardo, Jaime Alguersuari, Sebastien Buemi and several others.