Santino Ferrucci's diary - An American in Europe

I am Santino Ferrucci, a 16 year old American racing in the FIA European Formula 3 category. First off a thank you to the guys at RACER.com for allowing me to share my times in Europe. I have been in Europe for a good part of the past three years continue my schooling online. This year I will spend more than 260 days away from home, living in hotels and calling Viareggio, Italy, my home away from home. When I am not racing I train at Formula Medicine and Dr. Ricardo Ceccarelli treats me like family. I have not chosen an easy path and I am fortunate to have a few awesome guys that believe in me and my heart and desire to be the next American Formula 1 World Champion.

A little bit of my racing history. I raced karts in America and Canada until 2012 when I went across The Pond to the UK to race their version of cadet karts. I became the first American to win a major kart race in Europe in 50 years doing so at Glan-y-gors (Wales) in the Super 1 Series. I then moved up to Juniors and the class was KF 3. I spent a year there and it was a great learning experience. There were 117 karts in the CIK-FIA European KF 3 Championship so I’m proud to say I finished sixth in the championship.

In 2013, I raced four of USF2000 and had very solid results finishing eighth in the standings in the 40-car field, although I entered only half the races due to my age. In 2014, the plan was to race Formula Renault 2.0 or a similar series but a change in the minimum age left me unable to compete or test in Europe until my 16th birthday, May 31st. So I stayed home for six months, trained in the gym and on the simulator for my debut at Spa in the FIA European Formula 3 series. I had a good debut at Spa, running mid-pack and the following race at Norisring, Germany, I finished fourth and fifth. I was good in the wet but in the dry my lack of knowledge and experience understanding the car and downforce limited my progress. I needed a lot more seat time and still do.

Looking back it was a rather steep move to jump into FIA European Formula 3 but I gained a lot of experience and learned

the tracks. I also scored points which was unexpected and finished 17th overall. FIA European Formula 3 is likely the most difficult junior category on the planet. From the 2014 grid of 30-plus cars came Max Verstappen, now racing F1 for Toro Rosso. Two of the top Indy Lights drivers, Ed Jones and Felix Serralles came from European F3, as are two Formula 1 reserve drivers and two DTM drivers. So needless to say it’s a most difficult series and this year there are 35 drivers.

In 2015 I competed in my first full series, the Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand and finished third in the championship, after a great learning experience with the guys from Giles Motorsport. It was also a chance to take my F3 engineer Ralf from Mücke Motorsports and work on our communication and understanding. Mucke is the team I’m racing for in F3 this year, and I’m one of five drivers there. It’s a top team, using Mercedes-Benz power.

We opened the year in England at Silverstone and while I was P3 in final practice the weekend would not go as planned. I missed all 80 minutes of Friday practice prior to qualifying with a broken clutch. We qualified 12th and 16th so that left a lot of work to do. Naturally the British teams have an advantage because they know the intricacies of the track better, but we managed to finish ninth and 11th. Next race was at Hockenheim in Germany and a much better place for my German squad. Free practice was very good and I was P3. In Qualifying 1, I went out late and got caught on a late red flag so we qualified P16. In the next qualifier we had a wet and unstable track condition and I managed to start P10 for Race 2 and P8 for Race 3. Race 1 was in the wet and we started under the pace car so this means we are in single file and not really close. The condition of the track did not allow for too much overtaking and I finished 11th. In Race 2 I got a good start and ran a smart and conservative race to finish sixth. And the final race on Sunday, Race 3, I had a decent start. I sat back behind the two cars in front as I had more pace but passing is so difficult but on the last lap I managed to grab fifth. After the race the Stewards ruled that when I made my pass I ran the other car wide and was given a 30-second penalty. That really hurt as I lost valuable points and of course a very good finish.

My next race was Pau, last weekend. It got off to a good start being P3 and P6 in practice 1 and practice 2 respectively. We are a 35 car grid and because Pau is only a 4 Km street course, we have been split into groups, odd and even.  My group, odds, had 80% of the top championship contenders, making it very difficult.  Where we qualify in the group dictates the row we start from in the race.  

All of are practices have been in the wet and so was the first qualifying.  I was very confident going into the qualifying, as I am a fan of wet racing!  As Qualifying 1 session was about to start the track had formed a dry line and my engineer decided to change from new wets to old ones, and I was the only one to do this. The used tire would be better with the heat and would last longer.  Unfortunately it started to down pour just as I got on track.  I set one lap and then the course went red for a crash. At this mid point I was P2.  With about 12 minutes left on the clock, it was decided to go on the new tires.  I went out again but I found that I had a massive loss of traction and big understeer.  Even though I was pushing the limits, I found no grip, unlike in the practices.  I managed to keep the car out of the walls and end up 9th in group to start race one from 17th.

Qualifying 2 would be in the dry.  It would be my first time to see the track in this condition most of my group has already been here several times in the dry so I was at a disadvantage.  Everything was going good, my rhythm was building nicely to the track and I just made a massive time gain from my previous lap to put me 7th in group. Just as I started another hot lap and only needing to find 3 tenths to P1, which seemed doable, my teammate crashed into the wall.  The course was red again and with 5 minutes left we opted for new tires to run 4 laps and really push.  I did two laps and was ready for my flier but two more crashes happened and I got no chance to improve. I would start race 2 from 14th and race 3, from 18th because my second best lap time was not fast as I was still getting confidence with the car and track in the dry.

We use a standing start in F3 just like F 1. My start for race 1 was really good as I passed a car in what amounts to a tube of a straight. On the first lap of the race, turns 3 though 4 are standing yellow to prevent crashes but they also cause them.  The leaders nearly stopped and created a massive jam and I couldn’t stop in time for the hairpin (turn 4) and hit the guardrail trying to avoid the car in front of me who also was taking abrasive action.  I bent my right front track rod and I could not steer so I retired the car at turn 4.  

Race 2 was a bit better and again I passed a few cars on the start.  The car was very difficult to drive because we had a big under-steer problem in the middle of the corner and it then cause a harsh over-steer on the exit, which isn’t good because this is an extremely tight street circuit.  Finishing 11th was decent for me as I continued to learn the track.  

Race 3 was the highlight of my weekend being able to score a point, finishing 10th from P18!  My start was very good, as I passed two cars going into turn one.  I then got held up in traffic and because of a local yellow I had to give up one spot, which I didn’t agree.  As the race continued we had good pace and I was moving up the order.  Unfortunately, the last 12 of 29 laps the tires started to go off.  I started to drop off the pack I was with.   Pau is a tricky place and with a driver that has never been on the circuit my engineer had a big task and that being said the team did a good job.

So what is next for me?  I am on a plane in the morning for a seat fitting, simulator work and a test day on a circuit I have not seen yet that we race later in the year.  Later in the week I fly back to Italy to Formula Medicine for three days of mental, physical and psychological training in preparation for our next race the end of the month at Autodromo Monza, Italy which starts with an official test day mid week before the three day race weekend.

I want to thank the Mücke Motorsports team, Jo Zeller and my mechanics for an amazing job keeping the car in top condition every race.  And of course my engineer Ralf “Drücke” Druckenmüller for his patience dealing with this American rookie and making changes in the right direction, giving me a quicker car than my knowledge (I am getting there!).  A big thanks to Euan Hankey for being an amazing coach and keeping my head in the right place and lastly to all that make this possible. My sponsors Eastern Account System Inc., Cly-Del Manufacturing, Arai, Alpinestars, my mom and sister and lastly my dad for never missing a race in my 11 year career!