08/05/2017
NEWS STORY
American Santino Ferrucci will continue as a Haas development driver in 2017 while simultaneously competing in his second fulltime season in the GP3 Series for DAMS.
Ferrucci first joined Haas last year and participated in a two-day test with the American organization July 12-13 at Silverstone. By piloting the Haas VF-16, Ferrucci became the first American driver to wheel an American Formula One car since Oct. 9, 1977 when Danny Ongais drove a Penske PC4 in the Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville, Ontario.
The 18-year-old, a native of Woodbury, Connecticut, is embedded with Haas team at every opportunity, attending races and tests throughout the year while also participating in the team's simulator program.
Ferrucci is back with DAMS for his sophomore year in GP3, with the series running in conjunction with Formula One in seven of its eight events, with the only non-companion race weekend being the penultimate round at Jerez in Spain.
"We're very happy to have Santino back with us and look forward to his continuing development in GP3," said Guenther Steiner. "We liked what we saw of him last year in our test at Silverstone and his maturity inside and outside of the car is impressive. Santino is a young, American driver with plenty of potential who is learning a lot with DAMS and us."
"I said it last year when I became a part of Haas F1 Team - my goal since I first started racing is to become a Formula One driver, and to be an American who is part of an American team is something I take a tremendous amount of pride in," said Ferrucci. "I learned a lot last year in GP3 with DAMS and with Haas F1 Team. The combination of the two allowed me to learn more and at a faster rate. I feel so much more prepared this year. I'm really looking forward to getting started."
Ferrucci began his career in karting. At age 5, he was touring the United States and Europe and by the time he was 11, Ferrucci was a multi-time champion.
In 2013, he graduated to open-wheel racing, competing in Formula 2000 and the Skip Barber Racing Series. Ferrucci won his Skip Barber Racing Series debut at Homestead-Miami Speedway and collected five victories, two poles and three fastest-lap awards upon the conclusion of the season. In Formula 2000, Ferrucci never finished outside of the top-four in the six races he started, with each field featuring 37 or more cars.
The 2014 season saw Ferrucci in British Formula 3. He won two races, both at Brands Hatch, becoming the youngest race winner in the history of British Formula 3 at 16 years, two months and 30 days.
In 2015, he continued to advance in open-wheel, competing in the Toyota Racing Series New Zealand and the FIA Formula 3 European Championship. Ferrucci finished third in the Toyota Racing Series New Zealand point standings on the strength of a win and five podiums. It was his first full season competing in an open-wheel championship.
Ferrucci's ascension up the racing ladder continued in 2016 in his first season with DAMS, highlighted by a third-place finish at Spa-Francorchamps. He also made his sports car debut, winning his first outing in the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo North America race at the Circuit of the Americas.