Ferrari adds three drivers to academy

Date published : 08 Mar 2010 - 10:11:00

Formula 1 news Ferrari adds three drivers to academy08 March 2010Ferrari has announced that a trio of new names has been added to its driver academy (FDA) for this year. Joining F3 Euroseries Champion and GP2 driver are Mirko Bortolotti, Daniel Zampieri and Raffaele Marciello. With the school for up and coming drivers having been established by the legendary Maranello manufacturer last year, Frenchman Bianchi continues to be part of the academy following an impressive first GP2 pole position in the ongoing Asia Series. Bortolotti was the highest placed of four Italians in F2 last year20-year-old Bortolotti joins as Italian Formula 3 Champion of 2008, an achievement for which he was awarded with a Ferrari Formula 1 test at the end of that year. The Trento driver switched to the new-look Formula 2 championship in 2009, collecting one race win and a total of 50 points on his way to fourth in the final standings. Mirko will compete in the new GP3 series with the Addax team this year.Zampieri, who hails from Italian capital city Rome, is set to turn 20 in May. He is the latest winner of the Italian F3 championship, having collected five pole positions and four race wins in 2009. He is currently competing in the GP2 Asia Series.Marciello, whose current F1 inspiration is Robert Kubica - who spent many of his own junior years in Italy - has spent recent years in World Championship karting as well as Formula Abarth, a short stint in Formula Renault and testing in Formula BMW.