Santino Ferrucci, the former Formula Two driver who was banned for four races following a series of incidents last month, will return to racing in IndyCar later this year.
The 20-year-old, who is also part of Haas’s driver development programme, will return to the Dale Coyne team which he drove for in the double-header round at Detroit in June. Ferrucci will join regular drivers Sebastien Bourdais and Pietro Fittipaldi in an expanded three-car team for the final two races of the season at Portland and Sonoma.
“I am extremely grateful to Dale [Coyne] and everyone at Dale Coyne Racing for giving me this opportunity to get back behind the wheel of an Indy car in Portland and Sonoma,” said Ferrucci.“I’m also excited to be bringing my long-time sponsor Cly-Del on board and introducing them to the world of IndyCar racing.”
Ferrucci was fired by his Trident F2 team after being banned for colliding with team mate Arjun Maini following the Silverstone sprint race, failing to attend when summoned by the stewards, and being found to have driven on track while holding his mobile phone. Ferrucci later issued an apology for his behaviour.
Ferrucci, who had been denied permission by the championship to run a Donald Trump campaign slogan on his car that weekend, was also accused of treating Maini in an “unsportsmanlike and above all uncivilised” manner by his team.
Trident also accused Ferrucci of failing to meet his payment obligations to the team. “It seems weird that, despite such kind of issues, Santino Ferrucci had the resources needed to enter the Detroit Indy race from June 1st to 3rd while, at the same time, he was not honouring his agreement with Trident Motorsport,” they noted.
“We’ve had lengthy discussions with Santino in the past few months and we’re excited to have him back for the final two rounds of the season. We look forward to seeing what he will do with this opportunity as he gets back behind the wheel of an IndyCar. We’re also happy to welcome Cly-Del to our ever-growing family of sponsors.”
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YellowSubmarine
17th August 2018, 22:05
Sounds like a real bad boy, this kid. Lol
Ivan Vinitskyy (@ivan-vinitskyy)
17th August 2018, 22:06
what a joke
montreal95 (@montreal95)
18th August 2018, 11:23
@ivan-vinitskyy How so?
Jimmi Cynic (@jimmi-cynic)
17th August 2018, 22:15
Giving Jacques’ latest observation more credibility. Pretty soon all the top racing series will be displaying the ‘best’ motorsport talent that money can buy a seat for.
mfreire
17th August 2018, 23:10
Dale Coyne will take any driver who has money. He’s like Frank Williams in the 70s before Patrick Head joined his team and got them success.
Dale
18th August 2018, 18:16
You mean like Williams in 2018?
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
17th August 2018, 23:41
It is so disappointing that money speaks louder than talent. I wish them the worst. This is what is wrong with motorsport. Such ugly decisions.
montreal95 (@montreal95)
18th August 2018, 11:34
@ferrox-glideh Louder than talent? It’s not like he’s taking one of existing driver seats eh? Also in Detroit he was quite fast even if he’d made a rookie mistake in one of the races. I’m not saying Ferrucci is a world beater but he’s no Binder either. For everyone like you wishing them the worst there’s one like me wishing them the best
Captain Pie (@captainpie)
18th August 2018, 12:21
@montreal95 lucky Indycar, I am sure he will bring the same class and respect he had in formula 2.
Not to be that guy, but does this show the different skill levels between Indy and F2? Someone who was not overly competitive in F2 but did quite well in Indy.
montreal95 (@montreal95)
18th August 2018, 12:34
@captainpie I’m not condoning his behavior in Silverstone. It was appalling and unforgivable. However, he’s barely 20 years old and everyone makes mistakes. Even huge ones like this. He has apologized for his behavior, hopefully has learned from it and hopefully he’ll never make such things again.
As for your second point, I can only copy and paste my answer to another post here: “I’d watched him in Euro F3 and he didn’t look like a no-hoper to me. Some drivers are better suited to one series or another. There’s a train of thought that if Jenson Bitton, a great F1 driver, but with limited driving style flexibility would’ve joined Indycar he would be terrible. because his super smooth style just doesn’t suit the rough tracks and rough cars of Indycar”. not everyone is suited in the same way to every series. Some good F1 drivers have been found wanting when switching to a completely different series. Alonso took to Indy like a fish to water, but Alonso is an all time great with adaptability always mentioned as one of his greatest strengths. so let’s not measure everyone by his standard please.
anon
19th August 2018, 11:03
@montreal95, Silverstone was not the only time that he was accused of having a major attitude problem though. The talk after his IndyCar race was that he was a fairly toxic presence in the IndyCar paddock and that most drivers were glad that he was gone – there were drivers in that race who complained about Ferrucci barging into them because he knew that it was only a one off event (at the time), so he didn’t care if he crashed into them or not because he wouldn’t be around to face the consequences.
That is why not many seem to think this is just a “one off” moment – the indication is that this fits into a common pattern of behaviour on and off the track that points towards such behaviour being an ingrained character trait, particularly if his father seems to have been encouraging him to act in that manner.
Jason (@saint-jay)
18th August 2018, 13:14
I am not sure what everyone was watching at Detroit that weekend, but he was not more impressive there than in F2.
He ran at the back most of both races and was a total non-issue. He was involved in taking someone out yes though admittedly that was a rookie mistake.
His attitude did not impress the garage from what I remember though….
Dane
18th August 2018, 22:20
Who saying he did well in IndyCar? In the two races he participated in he finished 20th and 22nd.
I look forward to his teammate Bourdais trashing his spoiled kid.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
19th August 2018, 9:57
He didn’t finish the first race. Kimball rammed him from behind and put him in the wall. Ferrucci was completely blameless:
https://www.racefans.net/2018/06/02/indycar-detroit/
Don Dahler
18th August 2018, 0:45
Certainly they’ve had long conversations about this kid being on his best behavior. IndyCar has wanted a villain, they have one now if he somehow stays in the series. I guarantee he’ll get some people watching to root against him. May be kind of interesting?
PeterG
18th August 2018, 1:05
those saying this is money over talent clearly didn’t watch the indycar races in detroit.
he was faster than team mate sebastian bourdais (who’s a race winner this year) in both qualifying sessions, he was also very fast all through the weekend. he made a mistake in the 1st race & had issues in the 2nd which cost him a better finish but he showed very good pace all through the weekend, especially when you consider that he’d never driven the car before & that belle-isle is one of the hardest circuits on the indycar schedule because of how narrow and bumpy it is.
to me that shows that he had an opportunity, showed he had talent & is been brought back because of that.
MattDS (@mattds)
18th August 2018, 10:49
His results in European series, spec series, are utterly dire. I’m not one peddling the idea that driver quality in America is bad but if you’re going to say the guy gets an Indy seat based on talent then maybe I should revisit my thoughts on that.
montreal95 (@montreal95)
18th August 2018, 11:29
@mattds Not utterly dire. I’d watched him in Euro F3 and he didn’t look like a no-hoper to me. Some drivers are better suited to one series or another. There’s a train of thought that if Jenson Bitton, a great F1 driver, but with limited driving style flexibility would’ve joined Indycar he would be terrible. because his super smooth style just doesn’t suit the rough tracks and rough cars of Indycar. So your comparison is flawed and I agree with @PeterG
Zazeems (@zazeems)
18th August 2018, 2:47
Disappointing. Never wanted to have to clap eyes on this idiot again.
BJ (@beejis60)
18th August 2018, 3:49
Ironic that Niagara Falls is a REAL crappy town with very crappy people. Based on his actions, the shirt is very fitting, but that MAY be a bit of low to the people of Niagara Falls even…
montreal95 (@montreal95)
18th August 2018, 11:36
@beejis60 That’s a low level post if I’ve ever seen one…
budchekov (@budchekov)
18th August 2018, 16:23
Really! ?
When I visited the falls everyone we came into contact with were VERY pleasant folks.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
27th August 2018, 17:32
Niagara Falls is nice enough, it’s the Hard Rock Cafes of the world that are so very crappy.
BlackJackFan
18th August 2018, 4:00
“. . . he had talent & is been brought back because of that.”
And the money didn’t help…?
I’m not denying the talent, just the absence of a civilised mentality… IMHO
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
18th August 2018, 7:18
To be expected really. There’s suggestions that the new Indy superlicence system for next season means he needs to get in now to hope to qualify for a full season licence in 2019. I didn’t see anything special in Detroit, but if daddy can buy you the kart track before you’ve entered a race, he can probably sort an Indy drive.
I’m all for second chances, but the kid has shown little contrition over a long period of time, and not in a Senna way, in a ‘accusations of racism…….. yadda yadda, the rest’ way.
I guess he’ll play the ‘bad boy’ for a few seasons and maybe rack up a handful of top tens, and Cly-Del will sell some more, whatever it is they sell.
Todfod (@todfod)
18th August 2018, 7:23
All his actions make sense when you find out he’s a Trump supporter.
MarcusAurelius (@marcusaurelius)
18th August 2018, 7:52
Lol. Thinking about it, this seems so true.
Miani (@miani)
20th August 2018, 18:27
Of course is all Trump’s fault. (I ask Keith to not delete my comment again since I’m not ofending anyone.)
This remembers me of the episode that Ozzy eated a bat. He was asked later why he eated the bat. He answered that he would never believe “a fan would be stupid enough to throw a real bat at the stage”.
What I find more astuning is that when an islamic extremist does something bad he doesn’t represent the whole, but when someone who wear a Trump’s shirt does something, it’s Trump fault.
This one is another example how the media try to associate his image with bad things, why mention that Trump’s slogan history in every news about Ferrucci? For me it’s just a way to link Ferrucci bad attitude and his ban to another thing that doesn’t is remotely linked to it. You guys need to start thinking by yourself, and not being influenced by what you read.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
18th August 2018, 8:37
I didn’t care to even comment on Ferrucci, but then I read the COTD about Bruno Carneiro which really puts into perspective what a spoilt brat Ferrucci is.
Aldoid
18th August 2018, 15:00
Exactly. Couldn’t agree more.
UnitedKingdomRacing (@unitedkingdomracing)
18th August 2018, 9:12
The FIA should just have banned him for life from any motorsport.
MattDS (@mattds)
18th August 2018, 10:53
@unitedkingdomracing how? It’s not like they have jurisdiction over series they don’t sanction…
montreal95 (@montreal95)
18th August 2018, 11:40
@unitedkingdomracing Thankfully, no one in the US gives two cents about the FIA even if they would’ve done something so disproportionate as this
Aldoid
18th August 2018, 15:06
Did I just read Mr. (or Mrs./Miss) it’s-bad-to-generalize attempting to speak for the entire USA & their feelings toward the FIA? It’s comical to me that both these posts come from the same person, & in the same article, no less! Maybe I’m the weird one… wouldn’t put it past me… but still… LOL!
BlackJackFan
18th August 2018, 17:36
Aldoid – like it… lol.
Xcm
18th August 2018, 13:23
Hah! So many good comments when you consider the trump angle. Your FIA doesn’t rule the racing world around here!
Trump sure does bring out of worst of people… on both sides.
Dave
18th August 2018, 10:28
More controversies incoming…
Sham (@sham)
18th August 2018, 20:07
I find it sickening that someone like this can be in a position where others may look up to him.
Dane
18th August 2018, 22:15
If you want a good laugh go read the twitter comments on IndyCar’s announcement of this. The comments are comic gold.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
19th August 2018, 16:12
Do you have a link?
Kurt (@dangerpaws)
19th August 2018, 13:28
Finally….someone in Indycar I can root against!
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
27th August 2018, 17:35
Now that we don’t have old Surge Carrom to kick around anymore… ;)