Formula 1 World Championship has just finished last Sunday and already on Tuesday and Wednesday all teams (Marussia excluded) were back on track in Abu Dhabi circuit for the last few kilometres of this 2014. The cars were transformed into real studies, with the objective to collect more data and information to be transferred on the 2015 project.
Along first drivers, team managers have relied also on young rookies, coming from major preparatory championships as F.3 European (Esteban Ocon and Spike Goddard), GP3 Series (Alex Lynn), GP2 Series (Raffaele Marciello and Jolyon Palmer), WSR 3.5 (Carlos Sainz Jr) as well as DTM (Stoffel Vandoorne and Pascal Wehrlein), in addition to Felipe Nasr (already Williams test driver ), Max Verstappen (next pilot TR) and Will Stevens with a past experience in WSR 3.5 and Caterham driver for last round. Nine are the new faces who have put at the wheel of Force India, Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari and Lotus. “A good sign for this Formula 1, which, with the excuse of limiting costs, has reduced the possibilities for the guys to show off at the wheel of an open-wheel in top series“, Gian Carlo Minardi says. “I’ve always been a supporter of tests dedicated to young people and seeing all these new faces gives me hope for the future. The top series must return the dream and the goal for all those guys who enter the Motor Sport. In these last two days which closed 2014 and that in part have opened the new season, we saw drivers who have attracted attention in all major previous championships, from Formula 3 to GP2, putting together a large number of rounds. Seeing Raffaele Marciello jumping into the cockpit of the F14-T, as Italian, is a spectacular image, also because he’s son of the coaching project that ACI and Federal School are conducting. Started from karting, he won the Formula Abarth, before standing out internationally in F.3 with the great victory at Spa-Francorchamps and this year in GP2”, the manager from Faenza continues. Over the past two years, however, Jules Bianchi and Davide Rigon (this year engaged in World Endurance with the AF Corse Ferrari) have participated in Rooky tests on the tracks of Magny-Course and Silverstone. “Only with these testing days we can have a generational change in Circus. Talents are not lacking, especially in Italy. The program and the work done in these seasons by our instructors through internships and “Supercorso” have allowed us to grow champions such as Antonio Fuoco and Antonio Giovinazzi, without forgetting Mirko Bortolotti, Daniel Zampieri, Edoardo Piscopo, Luca Ghiotto and many others”.
