This is not how Mercedes-AMG spearhead Raffaele Marciello imagined his weekend in Zandvoort: The Landgraf driver only collected two points at the third race weekend of the ADAC GT Masters – for 14th place in the first race on Saturday.
There was little sign of the proclaimed restart after Lorenzo Ferrari’s spontaneous commitment as a partner for Marciello. The Marciello/Ferrari connection was promising: two Italians in the car, one as an established figure and top driver, the other as an up-and-coming youngster who has already won titles in his home country.
But on Saturday they fell victim to the weather, and on Sunday Marciello, as by far the best AMG driver, couldn’t get past ninth place in qualifying. In ninth place, he also handed the car over to Ferrari. After that, the TV cameras caught an angry Marciello in the pit lane.
Raffaele Marciello complains about mistakes when stopping
Why was the Italian so upset? Speaking to “Motorsport-Total.com” he says: “We made a mistake during the pit stop. We saw that the Lambo was in front of us, so I didn’t know why we didn’t push the car back to have a clean start . I was a little pissed about it.”
To make matters worse, the duo also had to accept one of many punctures. Ferrari previously collided with Florian Spengler in a fight, but the Italian sees no connection: “I touched him in front and the puncture was in the back.” However, Ferrari does not find Spengler’s duel okay.
“I just wanted to try to overtake him and he completely slammed the door when I was already on the inside. I couldn’t do anything anymore,” said the Landgraf newcomer. And so, after the first weekend together, Marciello comes to a similar conclusion as in Spielberg with ex-teammate Jonathan Aberdein.
Lorenzo Ferrari ‘needs to learn and improve’
“He has to learn and improve. Of course he has speed and talent, but it’s certainly not easy in a car where you have to win the title,” says the Mercedes-AMG star about Ferrari. According to Marciello, it doesn’t matter how he gets along with him. “I’m here to drive and do my job,” he says.
“It wasn’t my decision to replace Jonathan with Lorenzo. I have to do my job and help my team-mates.” It was precisely this willingness to help that he signaled in Zandvoort on Friday’s practice session, when ‘Motorsport-Total.com’ spoke to him for the first time about the spontaneous driver change in the team.
“I’m trying to help him a little with my experience,” Marciello clarified at the time. Despite the unsuccessful weekend, Marciello’s chances for the title, who competes under a Swiss license, are still fully intact. After six races he is fifth overall, twelve points behind Jusuf Owega, Christian Engelhart and Ayhancan Güven.
