Former Ferrari Driver Academy star Raffaele Marciello is the latest addition to the driver line-up for Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing for the 2018 season, joining an impressive mix of experience and talent.
The Italian is one of a number of drivers who will be up for selection by customer teams from around the globe in a whole host of different championships, with some already having been a part of the early endurance races in Dubai, Daytona and Bathurst.
As well as Marciello, the 2018 Performance Driver line-up includes Maximilian Buhk, Yelmer Buurman, Adam Christodoulou, Maximilian Götz, Christian Hohenadel, Thomas Jäger and Jan Seyffarth, while they will be supported by brand ambassadors Maro Engel, Bernd Schneider and Karl Wendlinger.
Predominantly the drivers will be called upon to race the Mercedes-AMG GT3, with at least eight outfits in line to receive extended support from Mercedes for selected events. These include the likes of Strakka Racing, who joined the Mercedes line-up in 2018 as well as BLACK FALCON, HTP Motorsport, AKKA ASP, SunEnergy1 Racing, Riley Motorsports, GOODSMILE RACING and GruppeM Racing.
“Our current driver line-up perfectly suits the ambitions and activity schedules of the Mercedes-AMG Performance Teams,” said Stefan Wendl, the Head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing.
“We have a good mix of experience and talent that allows us to create very competitive driver teams, depending on the task at hand. Additionally, we plan to run some Nordschleife experts for the Nürburgring 24-hour race.
“As a new Performance Driver, Raffaele Marciello is a great addition as his first outing at Bathurst has already proven. He is in second place of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, in which we want to strengthen our attack this year.
“I am convinced that we will be able to battle for title success and race wins with our strong driver and team line-ups here, just like in all the other series.”