Raffaele Marciello has revealed it was a breakdown in relations with Scuderia Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene was behind the decision for the Italian to leave the Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA) at the end of 2015.
After having the support of the FDA since 2010, including a FIA European Formula 3 Championship victory in 2013, Marciello will no longer have the backing in 2016 as he competes in his third GP2 Series season, having switched to Russian Time from Trident.
“I didn’t have really confidence from Maurizio,” said Marciello to Motorsport.com. “We didn’t work well together. So he decided that I was not the right person to be in Ferrari.
“I think he just didn’t like me. It’s normal – you can like and not like some people. So he didn’t want to let me be in Ferrari. And he pushed me out.
“I had five years with Ferrari and, for sure, thanks to them I learned quite a lot of stuff. But I think it was almost like the end of a problem for me.
“I didn’t have any chance to go to Formula 1. So for me it was right to continue and move [on]. And I think that now I can have more of a chance.”
Marciello was third driver for the Sauber F1 Team in 2015 but has not been retained by the Swiss squad, and has also spent time running with Ferrari during young driver tests in the past two seasons, and still has ambitions to become the next Italian Formula 1 driver, although he understands he may have to look elsewhere to further his career.
“For sure, it’s not easy to get to F1 for many reasons,” said Marciello. “But if you do a good season in GP2, maybe some doors can open. So I will try my best this year to get in Formula 1 next year.”
“Formula 1 is always a dream, but it’s not easy to reach. And I will look for chances in some other categories, like IndyCar and DTM. For sure, there are championships apart from F1.
“I think I did a good test [in DTM] and maybe in the future I can go there – but it won’t be easy either.”
