Ferrari Jerez test notes 2009-12-03

Drivers: Daniel Zampieri, Marco Zipoli, Pablo Sanchez Lopez
Car: Ferrari F60a

Weather: air temperature 14/17 C, track temperature 13/29 C. Cloudy with some rain.

Ferrari drivers for a day

Jerez de la Frontera, 3 December 2009 - The final day of testing featuring young hopefuls at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit, saw the top three finishers in the Italian Formula 3 Championship taking turns at the wheel of the F60, brought to the track by Scuderia Ferrari. The first of the three to be Ferrari drivers for a day and to slide into the cockpit was Marco Zipoli from Genoa, who set the third best time with a 1.21.725, while the second best performance in this mini-classification came from Rome's Daniel Zampieri, in 1.21.279. Quickest was the young Mexican, Pablo Sanchez Lopez, the last man to get behind the wheel of the car, with a time of 1.21.068, which was good enough for eleventh overall on the day.

At the end of the session, the three drivers were bubbling with enthusiasm, just as were their three predecessors last year, when Ferrari, in collaboration with the ACI-CSAI created the opportunity for them to experience driving a car that had competed in the Formula 1 World Championship.

A glimpse into the future

This was a special day for the top three finishers in the Italian Formula 3 Championship, who today were given the chance to drive an F60. Afterwards, they explained how it felt during a short press conference. In charge of the programme, Luca Baldisserri was happy with the outcome " The lads tackled the opportunity given them in a mature way, while this was a more difficult challenge than the one faced by those who drive at Fiorano last year. Here, there were other young drivers on track, all very keen to show their potential, while the track itself is more complicated. I believe that more of this type of event is the way to go for Formula 1."

The quickest of the three, the Mexican, Pablo Sanchez Lopez, thanked everyone who had helped him realise his dream: "at first, it was difficult to deal with the power of this incredible car, then in the last few laps, even if I was struggling, it was absolutely fantastic." Daniel Zampieri, who was second fastest, underlined the importance of the advice given by Andrea Bertolini, who was in Jerez in the role of driver coach. "Andrea followed us every step of the way and his help made this an unforgettable experience." Marco Zipoli mentioned the huge difference between the Formula 1 and Formula 3 cars: "we learned so much, especially how much horsepower still separates us from Formula 1 and it was the best experience that an aspiring driver from this fantastic series could ever hope for."

-credit: ferrari