Ferrari Driver Academy turns one

From one year to the next, the Christmas dinner with the Italian press is becoming an important event for the FDA, the program that Ferrari created to raise a new generation of drivers. Last year it was in fact on this occasion that Luca Baldisserri presented the initiative to the media and yesterday it was logical for him to take stock of a year of FDA activity.

“An important role in the preparation of the Ferrari Driver Academy drivers was played by the physical and mental training coordinated by athletic trainers and by the support of a psychologist who, through individual interviews with the medical staff, used innovative technologies applied to the measurement of reactivity ” explained Luca Baldisserri.

“The simulator experience was then an indispensable step to memorize the characteristics of the different tracks that the drivers found themselves facing during the season, also fundamental for adapting their driving style to the different track conditions and for implementing the automaticity in relationships with the race engineer and the team technicians". Track tests on the Formula 1 and Formula Abarth then completed the training directly on the field. During the driving courses, the young FDA students were supported by highly specialized engineers capable of providing personalized technical advice aimed at preparing for tests and races. Baldisserri then explained that, of the drivers enrolled in the program, the best competitive result was that obtained by the Frenchman Brandon Maisano, champion of the first edition of the Formula Aci-Csai Abarth, while among the innovations for 2011, the FDA announced that it had finished its collaboration with Daniel Zampieri and Mirko Bortolotti and signed an agreement with Sergio Perez who will be Sauber driver in the 1 F2011 championship.