What's a Santino Ferrucci?

A revvy Italian sports car? Nope. A velvety red with a floral nose and backnotes of sweet oak and nutmeg? Unh-unh.

It's a kid--a 13-year-old kid.

Which brings us to why we're here. Dario Franchitti retweeted this:

@SantinoFerrucci
First car race ever and won by 5 seconds. Stoked. Started P1 in 16 car field at Homestead.

When Dario speaks, I listen. I had never heard of Santino Ferrucci, but the retweet piqued my interest. I figured there was some sort of Scawtlund connection--perhaps one of his buddy's kids, or something, but not so.

A little investigative journalism (even this rooster [What up, Wade?!] can work the Internet) revealed Ferrucci shares the same management agency as Dario. And Allan McNish. And Pedro de la Rosa. And Sebastien Buemi. Huh. Fast company.

So, who is this kid? Well, we know he won his first car race, recently. And word on the street is he's a kick-ass karter. Well, let's not get carried away. McLaren signed him as a developent driver, but... Wait. WHA?! That's right. Like Lewis Hamilton, part deux.

And one other thing. He doesn't hail from Milan or Modena--Santino Ferrucci was born in...wait for it...Woodbury, Connecticut. And his parents' names are Mike and Val. Makes complete sense. 

BREAKING. Literally just discovered this while writing:

@SantinoFerrucci
Won SBWS homestead by 9 secs from last (14th) Had to start last cuz got taken out while in lead of prior race A great w/e winning 2 races

 

Let me get this straight. Modest, not, but Santino Ferrucci is a 13-year-old development driver for Mclaren who won a pair of races--going away--in his first weekend of car racing, and he lives in Connecticut? WINNING.

Get a load of this:

So, he hangs with Smoke, too? Redic...

Where's this kid been? He clearly has his eyes set on F1, which is cool, but maybe after he retires to NASCAR, he'll re-retire to IndyCar. Who knows.

All I do know is he's now solidly on our radar.

BTW: I would have titled this post, "The Great Santino," but GQ Magazine beat me to the punch. Read their take on the mighty Ferrucc, here.

--Chris

Strap on, F1, it’s GO TIME

Eddie, Danny, Mikey, and Speed... peculiar little amusements, no? Well, Formula One, the ol’ U.S. of A. is stripping off the red nose and oversized shoes, because we’re tired of looking like clowns.

That’s right. We’re done dickin’ around. It’s been three decades since the almighty Mario [angels softly sing out, “ahhhhhhh”] brought you to your knees, and it’s high time those snotty pukes you have spewing champagne all over Qatar, and the rest of creation, get some serious competition.

Yes, we’ve identified the threat and, no, they’ll be no names—you can just call him “O’Shaughnessy.” And there’s no need for a CV, either. Suffice it to say, O’Shaughnessy is napalm in Nomex, the WMD of motorsport, and Special Forces of formula cars all wrapped up into one barely-humanlike form. 

He’s a Levi’s wearin’, Marlboro smokin’, ‘Beam swillin’ sh*t storm of AWESOME, and he’s coming to a twisty near you.

O’Shaughnessy has already conducted reconnaissance at your beloved Monza and will be infiltrating your lower formula, posthaste.

For now, he’s in training: pulling coal cars out of the West Virginia mines—with his teeth—while only on respite from skinning Florida ‘gators—with his wheel-crushing bare hands.

How will you know when he has arrived? Oh, there will be no confusion. Look skyward. Behold the mushroom cloud, projectile vomit-inducing bright light, and unmistakable stain in Herr Vettel’s lederhosen. 

You have been warned, Formula One. He. Is. Coming. And may God help you... may the Almighty help you.  

Uhhh... we got this, Conor, right??

—JM

Motorsport's Big Dog Throws US a Bone

It’s no wonder that with the United States’ lack of recent success in Formula One and seemingly contentious relationship with the same that many have given up all hope of revisiting the glory days of decades ago when Mario Andretti won his world championship. It’s more than understandable. Cheever, Sullivan, Michael, and Scott Speed were bitter disappointments, but I, for one, still hold out some measure of optimism.

No matter the circumstances behind their tests or scant likelihood Alex Rossi or J.R. Hildebrand could actually secure F1 drives, it was still a personal delight to see them representing the Stars and Stripes on the international stage. I wish them the absolute best in their quests to make it in the sport.

Granted, given the current state of affairs, witnessing an American winning Formula One races or a championship again may seem utterly implausible, but my take? As long as we still have a horse in the race, let’s root him on.

—JM