PS hope for the future

14-year-old from Alonso kart to Red Bull cockpit

Niklas Schaufler has been driving this Formula 4 car for Red Bull since Tuesday.

(Bild: Daniel Schaufler)

Numerous successes in the world's best junior karting series have brought a local youngster into the sights of Red Bull and thus into Formula 4 and a completely new world of motorsport. In which the first two days of testing in Portimão, Portugal, have now also been very promising.

Instead of 34 hp, the youngster suddenly has 180 to tame, and instead of 140 top speed, the Linzer's little accelerator foot can now accelerate up to 245 km/h! Niklas Schaufler, often a big winner among the world's best young drivers in small karts:

Schaufler was among the dominators in the world's best junior karting series and drove for Formula 1 star Fernando Alonso's Spanish team.

(Bild: Daniel Schaufler)

• Le Cont Trophy winner in 2022 at the age of twelve.

• Italian champion in 2023 at 13.

• WSK Champions Cup champion this year.

• Champion of the 2024 WSK Super Masters Series.

• Runner-up in the 2024 Champions of the Future.

But the greatest success of the mega-talent, who most recently drove for the Spanish team of Formula 1 star Fernando Alonso, was that Red Bull brought him into the academy, presented him on redbull.com as a "rising ace" and put him in Formula 4 in 2025 - and thus in a real racing car at the age of just 14.

Talent was the deciding factor!

"In terms of age, it's not that unusual, after all, some of these cars are already being driven by eleven-year-olds - but only because their parents pay a lot of money for them," says father Daniel Schaufler and emphasizes: "But Red Bull got Niklas purely because of his talent!"

Niklas prepared for his Formula 4 entry with strength training at the Olympic Center in Linz.

(Bild: Binder Manfred/Sportmediapics.com/ Manfred Binder)

This also means that the youngster is currently spending two days a week in a Formula 4 car: yesterday and today in Portimão, Portugal, before heading to Spain next week for the race tracks in Aragon, Barcelona and Jerez. For the Red Bull hopeful, these are the first steps in a new motorsport world, for which Niklas has recently been preparing with strength training at the Olympic Center in Linz.

Midfield among 26 drivers

Because in Formula 4, the centrifugal forces and therefore the physical strain are greater than before. "Everything is harder," smiles Schaufler - and he means almost everything. During the first tests, he - although a newcomer - was already back in the midfield among the 26 drivers.