Santino Ferrucci is American with Italian roots, who broke the US stereotype and instead of chasing IndyCar or NASCAR dream, he wants himself to get into the Formula 1. He has been doing pretty good so far since this season he is racing in GP3 series as well as working as an official development driver for Haas F1 Team that has already given him the opportunity to test their F1 car at Silverstone. During Malaysian Grand Prix Wojtek Paprota managed to exchange some words with him about his motorsport career.
Although your name sounds pretty Italian, you have the American citizenship. Can you tell us the story why you ended up like that?
My great-grand parents were from Italy and they came in to America in the early 1900’s and I am third generation American. I feel comfortable with that and I really enjoy it.
Most American drivers chase the dream to become a superstar in IndyCar or NASCAR and you decided to move to Europe in order to reach Formula 1 in a few years time. Why did you break this stereotype?
As a kid I grew up watching Michael Schumacher so I have always wanted to get there and F1 has always been my goal. I really love NASCAR as well and I have quite a good relationship with some of the guys there and there is also a place where I see myself racing in the future. However, now my main goal is Formula 1.
What are the most significant differences between American and European racing culture?
I would say that the driving level is very different. In Europe everyone is much more focused, much more into it. Here you basically live the racing driver’s life. You wake up, you go to the gym training, you go to the team, you are always on the road, you are always preparing. In America everything is much more relaxed and not as aggressive. There is also a difference in terms of skill. Racing in Europe is at the higher level ever since from carting.
This year you are racing in GP3 series, what is the second step towards Formula 1, just before the GP2. What can you say about the level of competitiveness in GP3?
For me it is the strongest year of GP3 I have ever seen. We have a lot of good drivers coming from Formula 3, F3.5 and just in general a couple good drivers coming back from last year. Also with the new car can level the playing field a little bit. It has been a rally tough year, especially for us in DAMS but we had a great fun.
Although it has been a tough year, to you think that you are already familiar with the car and the feeling you get?
Yes, I am quite happy with the car. We have a really great race pace but we are still missing something in qualifying and we are not really optimizing the tires as much as we would want to. I think it is just the team thing at the moment and I am sure that we will sort it out.
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This year you are also Haas F1 development driver. How did you manage to get such an opportunity in such a team and in such a young age?
I got to say, I am really thankful for them, for giving me the chance to be part of the team. I was talking with them and started the year and they liked what they saw from my driving and they decided that it would be good to work with me. They are helping me and I am helping them. It is a really great opportunity.
How does your typical weekend look like? During the European rounds I saw you walking through the F1 paddock so I guess that it may be a little bit busy…
I am focused mainly on GP3, generally because the schedule in GP3 is so weird. We are the first ones at track and the last ones at track so we have a lot of down-time throughout the weekend. It is really nice that F1 paddock is just over there and I can easily learn about the track and how it is developing form the F1 point of view and I can apply this knowledge back to the team here.
Don’t you think that you are in a hurry all the time as you are moving from one paddock to another all the time?
No. I generally go to the F1 paddock during the free practice one and during the race, so I spent majority of the time in GP3 paddock. My focus is here and there is really no need to go out very often.
What do you do for Haas and and off track?
For me with them I have to say I helped with developing a car at Silverstone on the track. Off the track I have a little bit stuff to do with media, I am sitting at the driver briefings and I learn how the car is doing. I try to learn as much as I can and it is a really interesting stuff.
As you said, you had a opportunity to test the F1 car during in-season test at Silverstone. How can you compare it to the GP3 car?
I can’t. F1 car is like a dream. It is so fast, the brakes are so powerful and there is nothing like it to drive. It is just so good and so quick.
What are your plans for the nearest future?
I think I will stay in GP2 and GP3 paddock. Those are the great series and obviously with the Pirelli tires so it makes them challenging and the racing is really good so I don't see myself leaving this place any time soon. As I am 18, I still have a time for a development before I go to the big guys.
