Mercedes has welcomed a new member to its driver development program, signing up 13-year-old Chinese karter Yuanpu Cui.
The talented young charger from the city of Xi'an started racing as a six-year-old and hasn't looked back since, celebrating his success in various karting categories and finishing second in the 2016 Chinese Rotax championship.
This year, Yuanpu is once again competing in a number of different karting series in the OK Junior class as a member of the Kart Republic (Argenti Motorsport) squad.
©Mercedes
"We're really excited to welcome Yuanpu Cui to the Mercedes family as the newest signing of our young driver programme," said Gwen Lagrue, Mercedes' Driver Development Advisor.
"We're proud to be helping young drivers from a diverse range of countries and backgrounds on their rise up the motorsport ladder.
"Yuanpu certainly caught our attention and has shown great promise during his karting career so far.
"He's the top karting talent from China and there hasn't been a Chinese F1 driver yet, so we're looking forward to seeing how Yuanpu progresses and helping him move up the racing ranks."
Cui joins at Mercedes Danish FIA Formula 3 racer Frederik Vesti who was signed up by the manufacturer earlier this year.
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