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The Racing Team of the Italian factory and the Ferrari Driver Academy present their technical collaboration to the public.
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[dropcap]F[/dropcap]irstly as an indiscretion by "radio box “and then with the appearance of an official press release, the agreement between the Tony Kart Racing Team and the Ferrari Driver Academy did not make clear what it actually was.
However, once at the circuit in Lonato on 13 October the situation became clearer thanks to what we saw and heard.

The agreement is of historic significance.
Ferrari Driver Academy has openly and officially declared its interest in karting.

Through its division called Ferrari Driver Academy, it has signed an official technical collaboration, which has never happened before, with the Tony Kart Racing Team, one of the most important historical brands and the biggest trophy winners when it comes to Karting.

Objectively, it gives you a strange sensation to see South Garda Karting in Lonato with red everywhere thanks to the banners of the various Scuderia Ferrari Clubs that attended the event. To think that Ferrari Driver Academy decided to pay great attention, in an official manner, to the world of karting ... it certainly marks a historic moment.



The goal, of course, is to find new talent to develop and bring to F1. It’s unimportant whether it concerns Italians or other nationalities.
For how many years? It’s a multi-year deal according to official voices, but we weren’t able to find out the precise time period.

Only time will tell whether this collaboration will lead to good things, in other words whether a new Sebastian Vettel will be found.
What we already know is that the approach that emerges, as always for that matter, when we talk about Ferrari and Tony Kart Racing, will be focused on .... Racing.
In the sense that from the words of Roberto Robazzi (the big boss of the OTK Kart Group, the parent company of Tony Kart) we understand that the goal is not to give young drivers who manage to join the "green racing team" a luxury footbridge in karting before moving into the world of cars with FDA and the teams Academy Ferrari relies on in the lower formulas.
The focus is, first of all, to transfer the experience of over 30 years of activity on the track at the highest levels of karting to the young drivers of today. In fact, in a brief chat with Robazzi, we often heard the terms "teach" and "to give support" .

As if to say: "We know what champions are like, what differentiates them, how they behave, what led them to be so good ... Well: we can also teach it to you, if you’re willing to learn". The impression is that the aim is to "churn out" drivers who meet the standards of Tony Kart, a brand that from the mid-1980s to the present day has been linked to names such as Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel, Fabrizio Giovanardi, Johnny Mislijevic and Jarno Trulli, to name but a few.

On a practical level, the FDA logo on the suits of Tony Kart Racing Team drivers will not mean automatic membership to the FDA. That logo simply sums up the partnership between the two companies that will be working in close synergy.

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How then will it work, how will drivers end up getting involved in the project?

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First of all, it will be the Tony Kart Racing Team that identifies the best talent. The drivers will begin a process involving the development of their skills, education, growth and learning.
Subsequently, the drivers will begin to merge their "training activities” with those of the other drivers already in the FDA and already involved in cars.

How?
For example, in their training sessions in karts, or through the use of the simulator or during mental coaching. Once deemed ready by both parties (in other words by Tony Kart and Ferrari Driver Academy), the chosen drivers will pass to the upper classes.

Because, once drivers join the FDA led by Massimo Rivola, the support they receive goes beyond simple driving advice: all the young talent entering the grounds of the Academy in Maranello receive support in medical and physiotherapy terms and then move on to the three divisions of the FDA they are most interested in and that we, as guests, have also personally tried.
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Obviously, there are track sessions. Although it is increasingly difficult, for regulatory and economic issues, to give a precise reference point, regardless of the class in which you participate, karting is one of the best training methods for car racing drivers.

Not so much for muscle training (those used to drive a kart, according to the three drivers Charles Leclerc, Antonio Fuoco and Giuliano Alesi), but as a refresher on the basic concepts learned in karting which are always useful in a driver's career: reflexes, overtaking ability, racing vision...

Of course, advantage is also taken of track training for breath control... which, I assure you, is very useful! In fact, after a few laps I was already out of breath. Apart from Giuliano Alesi, FDA drivers drive the KZ. But they are not the only ones on the track, we also have all the standard bearers of the 2016 Tony Kart Racing Team, as well as experienced drivers of the red team, such as Marc Genè, Andrea Bertolini and Giancarlo Fisichella.

In the afternoon, a certain Sebastian Vettel also decided, despite the rain, to put on a driver’s suit and do a few laps.[/tab]
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For someone like me who has been a karting enthusiast for 10 years, I have negative feelings when it comes to simulators. In the sense that for those in love with the truest and most essential competition vehicle in the world, thinking about driving any vehicle in a virtual way, locked in a room, is really like asking Rocco Siffredi to go to bed with an inflatable doll.

However ... the simulator has been developed by Anton Stipinovich’s All in Sports. He is one of the gurus of this industry, also able to develop simulators for F1, those much talked about in recent years and on the basis of which today's cars are developed.

In this case the "virtual setup" is that of an F3. Well, I have never driven an F3, but the effort I made driving with this simulator convinced me that it is extremely close to the effort you make driving a real car. I left the simulator dripping with sweat. It is even tiring to hold on to the steering wheel on a straight.

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In addition to the track, FDA drivers have to train physically and mentally. If from the physical point of view we can imagine that fitness and other sports are daily activities for drivers, what does a driver have to do to train from a mental point of view?

I've had a little taste of this first hand thanks to Marco Casarotti and Marianna Munafò of Inside - Human Science, the organisation which supports FDA from this point of view.

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Apart from training, the question that remains is: is there a defined path that the FDA require its drivers to take to step up from karting to F1? For example, karting up to 15 years of age, then F4 ... etc. etc.?

The answer is ... No!

In the sense that, the steps are taken depending on the individual. However, says Charles Leclerc, an FDA driver currently involved e in GP3 (rookie) and a declared contender for the title: "A season in top karting, in KZ with the best in the class, has to be experienced".

In fact, competing with the best and most experienced makes you improve quickly. And the FDA, two experienced drivers, who are ready to act as a mother hen to young drivers, makes both karting and racing in cars available to them. We are talking about Marco Ardigò and Andrea Bertolini, seen here in a pleasant double interview..


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