Winner at the Nürburgring, Macau and more: Raffaele Marciello needs no introduction – EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Former Ferrari Driver Academy pilot and 2-time World Champion in the GT World Challenge Europe: Raffaele Marciello is one of the most prominent names in closed-wheel motorsport. It’s no coincidence that Valentino Rossi, his teammate in some of the most exciting races of their respective careers, redefined him as “one of the best, if not the best GT driver in the world.”
How did your career start: who deserves the credit and what pushed you to continue? Also, when did you realize this was your path?
“My dad has always been a fan. He was a truck driver and when I was about three and a half years old, he decided to put me in a go-kart. I don’t remember well, clearly, but it seems from their stories that I wasn’t that passionate at the beginning. Then when you start winning, obviously, you start to become passionate. From there I went from go-karts to Formula 3 and everything else. The passion is thanks to my dad.”
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I have a photo for you from the karts, with Sainz and Kvyat. How does it feel to know you raced with drivers who had such great careers? Sainz drove for Ferrari, Kvyat for Toro Rosso. I wanted to ask you how it feels.
“After this photo we saw each other and met other times because I also raced against Sainz in Formula 3. He did Formula 3 and Kvyat did too. Fortunately, I won in that category, but in karts they were slightly more competitive. I have no grudge that they reached Formula 1, especially Carlos. Daniil had a slightly more troubled Formula 1 career. In the end, like in my situation, there are surely many others. Good seats are always few; you have to be lucky that when you arrive, there’s a year where a driver retires. For example, any Mercedes-branded youngster stays without a seat for a long time with Russell and Kimi. So it takes a lot of luck: luck, skill, and maybe being in the right place at the right time. “
Still in the junior categories: who were the most fun drivers to fight against?
“There were many for sure. Maybe Rosenqvist in Formula 3; I fought with him all year. Also Wehrlein… then in GT with Dries Vanthoor, I spent many years against him when I was at Mercedes. But I think Rosenqvist and Wehrlein were perhaps the drivers I fought with the most in Formula 3 when I was winning. Then in GP2, well, there was Stoffel [Vandoorne], there was Jolyon Palmer. Every year in the formulas the level was very high. Even in Formula Abarth the year I did it, there were 40 cars.”
And then, as we know, after GP2 you came close to Formula 1, you even did some tests. What prevented you from becoming an official driver? You mentioned “opportunities,” but I imagine also issues related to budget and sponsors.
“These interviews came out where it seems I am against Ferrari, but I repeat, I have nothing against them; on the contrary, I still have a great relationship with many people. I think I was unlucky to arrive close to Formula 1 during the years of this big change at Ferrari, and obviously every management has its own drivers, its own favorite. I had been chosen by Domenicali and Montezemolo and not by those who arrived after, so I was discarded. When I was at Ferrari, fortunately, they took care of the budget. In the new management, they simply didn’t want me. It went how it went. In GT, racing against them, I want to beat them, obviously we are rivals, but always with respect and sportsmanship.”
Is there a greater emotion than driving for Ferrari? In the FDA, does the pressure you carry weigh more, or the ambition and stimulus of being a Ferrari driver?
“When I was inside, the FDA was almost like a school because I had to live in Maranello, I was followed every day, so… it becomes a routine. In the end, you don’t think about it anymore when you’re there, and fortunately, I’m not someone who feels pressure much. I drove the Ferrari once at Fiorano and twice in the tests in Barcelona and Abu Dhabi. Obviously very, very beautiful, but in the end when you put on the helmet, you don’t think about it. My job was to do some development, so you think about it, but I must also say it was so long ago that I can’t describe what I felt. It was certainly exciting, but I wasn’t saying ‘Oh my god, I’m driving a Ferrari,’ because you arrive there prepared. But certainly, for the first few laps you think about it a bit because it’s what you’ve dreamed of since you were a child. But when you are there, afterwards you dream more of racing it, not just doing a test, and so it very quickly becomes a habit.”
We know you had a good relationship with Jules Bianchi and I wanted to ask you how the period after Suzuka was?
“Yes, we spent a lot of time together in Maranello, also with Andrea Ferrari, who was also our trainer in the Driver Academy. It happened so fast, then we went to visit him a few times at the beginning in the hospital, but it’s difficult to explain. I don’t know, maybe you always expect that it can happen to someone, as it is always a dangerous sport. But yes, especially the first time when I saw him in Nice, it was a bit of a shock because compared to how you remember him, he was another person. But even in this situation, let’s say I get used to situations very quickly, so after the initial shock where you say ‘Wow, it happened, it won’t be like before,’ you have to come to terms with it. But yes, it’s not nice that it happened to him, and given how it happened… I even tattooed his number.”
What is it like moving from single-seaters to GTs… If you went back to that period, would you make the same choices or change something?
“No, fortunately I did it. It was my choice, even if maybe my dad or someone else was pushing to do another year of GP2. But by then I knew that even if I had won the championship, nothing would have changed. So luckily I took this ‘train’ to go to GT. At the time there were many seats, not like now where GT has become very well known. You see Max [Verstappen] driving at the Nürburgring now, or Stroll coming to race at Daytona… I hear many drivers are interested. I would make that choice again in the same way.”
It went well in the end, I’d say.
“Yes, I’m happy even though I was still quite young, I was 21. Many told me: ‘Ah, you could still go to Indy, do another year…’, but in the end I was convinced and it went well.”
In GT you won in 2019 in Macau, then the Spa 24 Hours in 2022. How does it feel to win a Grand Prix like Macau, which I think is the most difficult and fascinating in the world, and what is the most beautiful or exciting circuit you have raced on?
“I always say that the best races for me are Macau, the Nürburgring (the Nordschleife), and Bathurst. They are races on historic tracks; Interlagos is also very beautiful. I am very happy to have won Macau twice, Spa, and the Nürburgring last year. I’m missing Daytona and Le Mans, then I’ll be happy. Obviously, there’s always a desire to win other races, but those are the main ones.”
Valentino Rossi defined you as the best GT driver in the world. How is your relationship with him and how do you live with the “blessing” of one of the greatest in history?
“Valentino is more normal than what people say. It’s very relaxed being with him; you don’t think about the persona he is. And he is also very strong: for an ex-motorcyclist, he goes fast. I don’t feel like the strongest in GT because there are so many strong drivers; you need the team, the right BOP [Balance of Performance]… many things. But it’s always nice that someone like Vale says this about me. We talk often, we even did a helmet swap. Spending time with him is very fun and I hope to race with him again in the future, even if for now there are no plans since he races with WRT and I don’t at the moment.”
I hear the baby crying in the background. I wanted to ask about life beyond the track: how do you manage to combine the life of a driver traveling the world with that of a dad and future husband?
“With my job it’s a bit different. Someone with a normal job maybe goes away in the morning and comes back in the evening and sees their daughter every day. I go in periods, but when I’m at home, even for two or three days, I am present with her 24/7. Now going away is starting to be harder because she really knows who I am, she’s starting to understand. I do about 22-23 races a year, but I have fewer extra things to do off-track compared to F1. We are normal people, I try to be a normal dad: I play with her, we go to the park… and when I’m away, I try to return as soon as possible.”
Enzo Ferrari said that every child makes you lose a second on track. Alonso and Schumacher also talked about “lifting the foot” having a family at home. Have you had actual feedback since having a daughter? Do you think about it when you have to make a risky move or do you disconnect completely?
“No, fortunately I won at the Nürburgring after Ginevra was born, so no. In my opinion, it depends from person to person. When I put on the helmet, I don’t think about it: I drive and try to do my best. I think I haven’t changed; maybe having had her quite young helps.”
Do you follow current Formula 1?
Yes, more or less.
What do you think of the new cars and 2026?
“The battles have become fake, so in the end you know when you pass, then afterwards you get passed back in a way that is ugly to watch. So there is no longer the art of knowing how to defend, not letting yourself be undercut, because you know, it’s all based on power or the battery, whatever it is. So for me, the only pity is that, because for the rest, not driving, I can’t say much. Certainly to watch it’s not beautiful, because when you see videos where the car for 500 meters has to do what it has to do, especially in qualifying I think it’s a problem for the drivers… it’s ugly. But for me, it’s mainly the art of defending that has been somewhat lost.”
Regarding current events, I wanted to ask you about the words of Gravina who talks about “Series A” sports and essentially “Series B” sports, when we have so many excellences, starting from GT, from you, from Kimi, from Fuoco, from Bezzecchi, from Sinner, to Milano-Cortina where Italy did very well. I wanted to ask you what you think of those words.
“I race with the Swiss flag, even though I am Swiss-Italian, but I can choose. People like these have led me not to race for the Italian flag anymore. Not that Switzerland does who knows what, but at least it does nothing. It’s better to do nothing than to cause damage. I don’t think he really believes what he said, especially perhaps in a post-defeat moment for Italy at the World Cup; maybe he had to say something to defend the National team. But he could have thought about it a bit earlier. We in GT, excuse the term, are nobody, but especially now that there’s maybe Sinner, Kimi, Bezzecchi, but also Vale with the Academy or, I don’t know, the Winter Olympics… maybe you can get help from a media manager or someone to say things and not make these poor impressions. I don’t know if he will resign now and then apologize or whatever, but he certainly said something ugly.”
Italy has always been an excellence in sport; it was a rather out-of-place statement.
“Exactly. But yes, I want to race with the Swiss flag for many reasons and one of the reasons is that yes, in Italy there is a lot of Ferrari, a lot of football, and little of everything else, and it can lead many people to abandon the tricolore.”
I wanted to conclude by asking you what you expect for the future, both on and off the track.
“On the track, to continue as it is going. I would still like to leave my name when I stop racing, beyond the victories because where we race there is always the teammate, long races, the car can break, you might not win for 5 or 6 years, etc. But when you stop racing, hearing: ‘Ah yes, Marciello was still a strong driver, he made the difference,’ that would make me very happy. And then obviously I would be a liar to say ‘I don’t want to win the 24h of Le Mans,’ it would be nice. Off the track, the same; in the end I am quite happy with how things are going. There are those who are never satisfied; in my opinion, being satisfied sometimes is better than looking for things that might be possible but maybe too difficult or even impossible, so knowing how to be satisfied can work most of the time.”
Photo: raffaelemarciello.com, team_rmarciello/IG
