Q: How did you get into racing?
A: My father was passionate about motor racing, and we lived just outside Monza circuit in Italy, which is one of the most famous and historic Grand Prix in Formula 1. My father used to take me to the circuit when I was very little, the first Grand Prix that I attended I was six years old. I think my passion for motor racing started then and when I grew up it only became bigger and bigger. I then went to university with the only intention to get a good engineering degree to be able to work in motor racing. Straight after graduating I found a job in a small Italian racing car manufacturer called Tatuus and few months after I moved to the UK as most of the Formula 1 teams and many other racing teams were based there and that’s where I spent all of my career so far making my way up from the lower formulas up to F1.
Q: Prior to working in IndyCar, you’ve been in F1. Can you discuss some of your highlights in that series?
A: There were many highlights in my F1 career, obviously one of the biggest was winning the first Driver and Constructor World Championship in 2010 with Sebastian Vettel with RedBull. The other main highlight was winning 3 more consecutive World Championship after that first Championship, which was incredible. Another main highlight was when we won the first Italian Grand Prix in Monza again with RedBull in my hometown in 2011, that was really a special feeling, my father was there that day, and my thoughts went to all those years spent in the grandstands together with me dreaming one day of being able to work in F1.
Q: Who has been your biggest influence/mentor in racing?
A: I have had two main mentors in racing who had a large influence on me and my career, and I have a huge respect for them: Adrian Newey and Peter Prodromou. Peter was my direct boss throughout my years at RedBull and Adrian oversaw the entire team from a technical point of view. Two great people, two visionaries who taught me a lot and to whom I owe a lot.
Q: What interested you in joining RLL?
A: I always had an eye on the Indycar series, I think the competition is very tight and you have a chance at winning every time you participate. From a personal point of view my challenge and my interest is to see if with many years of F1 experience under my belt I’m able to apply the methodologies and the technologies that I have learnt and developed throughout the years and to see how much of a difference I can make. RLL provided the ideal opportunity as it is a Team with a clear vision, willing to invest for the future and this was really key for me.
Q: What are your thoughts on ovals with your background? How are you able to transfer your prior experience to these types of tracks?
A: I think first and foremost a racing car is a racing car whether it races on oval, street circuit, road course and whether it is a F1 or an Indy Car it is the same physics that we are trying to resolve. Ovals are clearly a new experience for me as we don’t have them in F1, but I will approach them in the same way I approach every race so I will try to understand what the car needs to work at its maximum potential in these particular circuit conditions. We also have lots of experience within the Team and let’s not forget that RLL won the Indy 500 only a couple of years ago.
Q: You’ve been here a couple of months and have completed a test session. What can we expect from the three cars in the 2023 season?
A: I think it is early days, quite a lot of stuff that we are investing in, and we will try to understand before the start of the season have not happened yet. We are organizing and planning WT test, track tests session and other various tests with clear ideas and target areas of the car that we want to understand more, and I do believe that they will be very useful in optimizing the car further, so I’m quite hopeful for next year.
Q: Which race are you looking forward to the most this upcoming season?
A: For sure the Indy 500, I have watched many of them in TV, I have never attended one, but it seems an incredible spectacle especially on race day. I’m sure the crowd, the buzz, the adrenaline is unbelievable so I’m very much looking forward to it.