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Raffaele Marciello
Swiss-born Italian racing driver (born 1994) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Raffaele "Lello" Marciello (Italian pronunciation: [raffaˈɛːle marˈtʃɛllo];[2] born 17 December 1994) is a Swiss-born Italian professional racing driver who currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup for BMW M Team WRT. A former member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, he was the 2013 European Formula Three Champion, a reserve and test driver for the Sauber Formula One team in 2015, and spent three seasons competing in the GP2 Series. He switched to GT racing in 2017 and became a works Mercedes-AMG driver ahead of the 2018 campaign, where he stayed until leaving in 2023 and subsequently signing with BMW. In 2022, Marciello earned his first major endurance race victory by winning the Spa 24 Hours.
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Early career
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Karting
Marciello debuted in karting in 2005 and raced in various European championships, working his way up from the junior ranks to progress through to the KF2 category by 2010.
Formula Abarth
In 2010, Marciello graduated to single-seaters, racing in the newly launched Formula Abarth series in Italy for JD Motorsport. He won opening race at Misano and race at Varano and amassed another two podiums it brought him third place in standings.[3] Also he and fellow Formula Abarth champion Brandon Maïsano became members of the Ferrari Driver Academy.[4]
Formula Three
Marciello stepped up to Italian Formula Three Championship in 2011 and joined Prema Powerteam. He claimed wins at Misano and Adria and another four podiums, finishing third and losing rookie title to Michael Lewis, but overcoming Maïsano by seven points.[5]
In 2012 Marciello continued his collaboration with Prema Powerteam into Formula 3 Euro Series.[6] and the revived FIA European Formula Three Championship. In FIA F3 he finished 2nd in the championship, with nine podiums including seven wins. In Euro Series he finished 3rd with ten podiums and six wins. In both championships he scored more wins than anybody else.
Marciello remained in F3 for 2013, and emerged as a pre-season favourite following his impressive results in the previous year and dominant performances in pre-season testing.[7] He ended up winning 13 races and claimed the title with a race to spare.[8][9]
Toyota Racing Series
During the 2012 off-season Marciello competed in New Zealand-based Toyota Racing Series, taking ninth place in the championship with a win at Hampton Downs.[10]
GP2 Series
Marciello had been looking to be driving in the GP2 Series or World Series by Renault for 2014 after testing both cars in Catalunya in October 2013.[11]
On 20 January 2014, the Ferrari Driver Academy announced Marciello would be racing in GP2 in 2014. However, they did not confirm the team he would be competing with.[12] On 18 February, it was announced he would be driving for the Racing Engineering team.[13] Marciello achieved his first GP2 victory in a wet feature race at Spa-Francorchamps after an intense fight with Stoffel Vandoorne in the closing stages.[14] Multiple errors and incidents plagued Marciello's season, as he only finished in the points on six occasions, but his win and three further podiums took him to eighth in the standings.[15][16]
Going into the 2015 season, Marciello joined Trident Racing.[17] Though he only qualified outside of the top ten once, Marciello took the same amount of podiums as in his rookie season and finished seventh overall.[18] Nevertheless, he scored 99.1% of the team's points.[19]
Marciello raced with Russian Time in the 2016 season.[20] In a season dominated by Prema Racing, Marciello finished fourth in the standings thanks to consistent performances which yielded six podiums.[21][22]
Formula One
On 26 November 2014, Marciello made his Formula One debut behind the wheel of the Ferrari F14 T, during that day's post-season test at the Yas Marina Circuit. He set the second fastest time of the session, half a second adrift of Pascal Wehrlein in the Mercedes F1 W05 Hybrid.[23]
On 31 December 2014 it was announced that Marciello had signed as test and reserve driver for the Sauber Formula One team for 2015.[24][25] In January 2016, it was announced that Marciello had been dropped by Sauber[26] and had split with the Ferrari Driver Academy for personal reasons.[27]
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Sportscar career
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2017: First step into GT racing
In 2017, Marciello ventured into the sportscar racing scene, driving a Mercedes-AMG GT3 for AKKA ASP in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup and Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup.[28] The Italian impressed in his debut year, scoring two podiums in the Sprint and Endurance cups respectively. His highlight however came at the 24 Hours of Spa, where, having qualified on pole alongside teammates Edoardo Mortara and Michael Meadows, Marciello used up the maximum allowed driving time of 14 hours to help his team to finish third.[29][30][31]
2018: Mercedes factory driver
Ahead of the 2018 season, Mercedes-AMG added Marciello to their rank of Performance drivers, thus making him a fully-fledged factory driver.[32] The season saw him returning to both the Endurance Cup and Sprint Cup series where, once again with AKKA ASP, he paired up with Meadows in the latter and drove alongside Tristan Vautier and Daniel Juncadella in the former.[33] Marciello performed to a high level, taking second-placed finishes in the Endurance rounds at Silverstone and - after initially being awarded victory when a suspected technical non-compliance for the winning team caused them to be provisionally disqualified - Barcelona, which led him to a runner-up spot in the Endurance Cup.[34] Having inherited the title at first, an appeal by the disqualified team stripped the accolade from Marciello, with the disqualification being converted into a fine.[35] Meanwhile, wins at Budapest and the season finale at the Nürburgring alongside a slew of further podiums gave Marciello and Meadows the Sprint Cup title.[36][37]
That year, Marciello also partook in all four rounds of the Intercontinental GT Challenge with Mercedes. He scored podiums at Bathurst and Spa, as well as taking a win at the Suzuka 10 Hours, the latter earning him the provisional championship lead, though a seventh place at Laguna Seca, a race in which Marciello damaged his car and received a drive-through penalty after a mistimed move on the WRT Audi of Sheldon van der Linde, set him back to third in the standings.[38][39][40]
2019: Maiden Macau crown
Continuing into a third season of the Endurance and Sprint series at AKKA ASP, Marciello would be partnered by Vincent Abril in both championships, with the pair being joined by Michael Meadows for the endurance rounds.[41] In the Sprint Cup, Marciello was unable to defend his title, even if a win at Zandvoort and a pair of victories at the season finale in Hungary earned him and Abril third in the championship, one the pair battled for until the final race of the season.[42] As well as this, the final victory at the Hungaroring guaranteed AKKA ASP the teams' title.[43] Their campaign in the Endurance Cup proved less fortunate, as retirements in two races saw the Italian end up 25th overall.
Marciello took part in the FIA GT World Cup, held at the prestigious Guia Circuit in Macau, at the end of the year with Team GruppeM. Having taken pole position for the event the previous year, the Italian repeated said feat in 2019, before proceeding to control Saturday's qualification race and winning the main race, therefore becoming the GT World Cup winner for the first time.[44][45][46]
2020: ADAC GT Masters debut
Despite a truncated year due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mercedes would expand Marciello's full-time racing duties, with him not only driving for AKKA in the rebranded GT World Challenge Europe Endurance and Sprint cups, but also taking part in the ADAC GT Masters alongside Philip Ellis.[47][48] That campaign proved to be largely anonymous, say for the final race at Oschersleben, where Marciello and Ellis took victory from pole position.[49]
His campaign in the Endurance Cup would see more success than the previous year: partnering Felipe Fraga and silver-ranked Timur Boguslavskiy, Marciello and his team ended up fifth in the standings, having taken a pair of podiums at the start of the year before encountering brake issues at the 24 Hours of Spa which ended their championship challenge.[50] In the Sprint Cup, Marciello helped Boguslavskiy towards wins at Misano and Barcelona, though he would finish third in the drivers' standings - one place behind the Russian, who himself ended up mere four points behind the title-winning duo of Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts - as he missed the round at Zandvoort due to his commitments at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring.[51][52][53]
2021: Further victories in GTM and GTWC
Marciello remained in the ADAC GT Masters for 2021, this time driving at Mann-Filter Team Landgraf-HTP WWR together with Maximilian Buhk.[54] The season began promisingly, as the duo converted pole to victory at the season opener in Oschersleben in a commanding performance.[55] The team would score two further podiums during the first eight races of the season, which was enough to close the gap to just three points compared to the leading Land-Motorsport outfit of Ricardo Feller and Christopher Mies.[56] However, a retirement at the Sachsenring owing to a crash caused by Albert Costa and a 30-second penalty which led to a finish outside of the points in Hockenheim put the title out of reach for Marciello and Buhk, who ended the season fourth overall.[57][58]
The Italian also drove for the AKKA ASP Team in the SRO competitions, being joined by new Mercedes factory driver Jules Gounon on a full-time basis in the Endurance Cup and once again partnering Timur Boguslavskiy in the Sprint Cup.[59][60] In the former series, Marciello and Gounon were able to mount a title charge, taking second places at Monza, a race which Marciello led during the opening stint, and at the Nürburgring, where the team ran in second for the majority of the contest.[61][62] Additionally, Marciello scored a second successive pole position for the 24 Hours of Spa, though the team would retire due to damper failure.[63][64] The points they lost in Belgium cost the outfit during the final round in Barcelona, where, despite taking victory alongside Felipe Fraga, Marciello and Gounon would miss out on the championship by four points.[65] In the Sprint Cup, Marciello and Boguslavskiy scored four podiums but failed to win a race, leading to a third-placed finish in the drivers' standings.
Near the end of the year, Marciello confirmed that he would be switching to a Swiss racing licence from 2022 onwards, citing a lack of support from the governing body of Italian motorsport as the reason for his "overdue" switch.[66]
2022: GTM and Endurance Cup titles
Team Landgraf and Marciello were reunited for the 2022 ADAC GT Masters season, with a variety of teammates accompanying the Italian across the season.[67] A double podium to start the year off was swiftly followed by Marciello's first pole at the Red Bull Ring, one which he converted to third place in the race. Following that round, teammate Jonathan Aberdein was replaced by Lorenzo Ferrari, with personal issues between Marciello and the South African and a lack of pace from the latter being the speculated reasons for said decision.[68][69] A disappointing event in Zandvoort was the result, though Marciello would bounce back at the Nürburgring, winning the opening race and finishing second on Sunday alongside fellow factory driver Maro Engel and taking the championship lead in the process.[70][71] The Swiss driver was joined by Daniel Juncadella, another factory driver of the German brand, for the remaining three rounds, where he took three further podiums as well as two pole positions, which enabled him to clinch the title one race early at the Hockenheimring.[72]
In addition, another double campaign at AKKodis ASP in the Endurance and Sprint cups was in store for Marciello.[73][74] Once again, he was joined by Boguslavskiy in the Sprint Cup, where wins at Brands Hatch, Magny-Cours and Zandvoort, along with a heap of fastest laps and pole positions on Marciello's part, enabled the pair to fight for the title, though they would lose out for a third successive year to the WRT duo of Vanthoor and Weerts. Despite this, Marciello managed to clinch the overall GT World Challenge Europe title at the final Sprint Cup round.[75] This was compounded by a notable season in the Endurance Cup: having earned top honours at the 24 Hours of Spa, the trio of Marciello, Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella ended up winning the championship at the season finale in Barcelona, beating Ferrari's Antonio Fuoco by two points.[76][77]
2023: Final triumphs with Mercedes
At the start of 2023, Marciello drove for GetSpeed Performance in the Asian Le Mans Series.[78] Having scored a pair of podiums during the first event in Dubai, he, Fabian Schiller, and Florian Scholze ended up third in the GT championship. He also made his prototype debut during the 24 Hours of Daytona, where he drove an Oreca 07 for High Class Racing.[79]
Marciello's main campaigns would, once more, lie in the European SRO competitions, as he remained with Boguslavskiy in the Sprint Cup and joined him and Gounon for a title defence in the Endurance Cup.[80][81] The Endurance Cup season opener at Monza ended with retirement, with Boguslavskiy causing race-ending damage with a misjudged defensive move, though the team bounced back with a victory at Le Castellet, where Marciello charged through the field during the final hours to take victory.[82][83][84] A second place at the 24 Hours of Spa was followed by a win from pole position at the Nürburgring.[85][86][87] The gap the team had amassed meant that a fifth-placed finish at Barcelona was enough to clinch back-to-back titles for Marciello and Gounon.[88][89][90]
The Swiss driver was able to stamp his mark on the Sprint Cup campaign as well, which started with a victory apiece at Brands Hatch and Misano, with dominant opening stints from Marciello being the catalysts for success.[91][92] The duo retired during the first race at Hockenheim, but would bounce back to win on Sunday in spite of gear-shifting issues which manifested during Boguslavskiy's stint.[93] Another pole position truncated by an imposing first stint from Marciello earned AKKodis victory in Valencia, though this would not be enough to take home the Sprint Cup title, with a collision caused by Audi's Lorenzo Patrese ending the team's final race at Zandvoort, therefore crowning the Tresor Orange1 outfit as champions.[94][95]
Parallel to his GTWC commitments, Marciello partnered John Ferguson in the British GT Championship.[96] With a win at Snetterton, Marciello and Ferguson helped Ram Racing to fourth place in the teams' standings.
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In November 2023, Marciello would drive his final race as a Mercedes-AMG factory driver, competing at the FIA GT World Cup in Macau with Team Landgraf.[97] A dominant weekend followed, as Marciello took pole, won the qualifying race on Saturday and clinched world cup honours with a faultless drive on Sunday.[98][99][100] With his departure imminent, Marciello presented his Macau victory as a "last gift" to the Mercedes brand he had been a part of for the previous seven years.[101]
2024: Switch to BMW, Hypercar step-up
The week after his Macau triumph, Marciello announced that he would be joining BMW as a factory driver.[102][103] In January 2024, he was announced to be making his debut in the FIA World Endurance Championship in the top-flight Hypercar class, driving for factory-backed Team WRT in a BMW M Hybrid V8 alongside Dries Vanthoor and Marco Wittmann.[104][105] He also joined bronze-ranked John Ferguson at RAM Racing in the British GT Championship and drove together with Maxime Martin and Valentino Rossi in the GTWCE Endurance Cup.[106][107] Marciello made his first appearance at the wheel of a BMW M4 GT3 at the 2024 Bathurst 12 Hours alongside the aforementioned pair, finishing fifth.[108][109]
Marciello's hypercar season yielded mostly muted results. Having failed to score points in the first half of the year, the No. 15 BMW crew finished ninth at São Paulo and eighth in Austin.[110] A strong drive in Fuji then earned the team second place — despite Marciello colliding with Earl Bamber during the third hour —, BMW's first top-class podium in the WEC.[111] Marciello and his teammates capped off the season with fifth in Bahrain, majorly contributing to BMW finishing fifth in the manufacturers' standings.[112]
In British GT, Marciello's season highlight proved a GT3 lap record at Spa-Francorchamps.[113] He left the series after completing just five races and finished 14th in the drivers' standings. In the Endurance Cup meanwhile, Marciello, Martin, and Rossi finished three of the five races in the top five but failed to score at Spa and the Nürburgring, leaving them ninth overall.[114] Marciello performed strongly in the FIA GT World Cup at Macau, qualifying on pole and winning the qualifying race.[115][116] During the main race however, a furious battle for the lead between Marciello and Antonio Fuoco concluded with both drivers overshooting the Lisboa turn with three laps to go; Marciello finished 18th, one lap down.[117] Both drivers blamed each other for the incident, with Marciello suggesting that Fuoco had moved under braking, whereas Fuoco claimed that Marciello had missed his braking point and therefore hit the rear of Fuoco's Ferrari.[118]
2025: Nürburgring 24 Hour honours
Marciello continued driving for BMW and WRT in the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship, this time being joined by Vanthoor and Kevin Magnussen.[119] He also partnered Augusto Farfus and Jesse Krohn at ROWE Racing in the GTWCE Endurance Cup.[120] After finishing fourth overall in a one-off at the 24 Hours of Daytona, Marciello took second at the Bathurst 12 Hours in a WRT one-two finish.[121] This strong form continued into the first WEC round in Qatar, where Marciello and his teammates finished fourth.[122] They then placed sixth in Imola and tenth in Spa, where Marciello received a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane.[123][124] A hybrid system cooling issue caused the No. 15 to finish multiple laps down at Le Mans.[125] This set the tone for the team's fortunes, as the No. 15 failed to score points in the remaining four races. This included an accident for Marciello on his outlap at Fuji, caused by him swerving to avoid the suddenly slowing No. 99 Proton Porsche of Nico Pino.[126] BMW still finished fifth in the manufracturers' standings, though Marciello and his teammates ended up behind the sister No. 20 in the drivers' championship.[127][128]
The GT3 campaign saw Marciello achieve a number of standout results. In the Endurance Cup, a commanding victory at the Nürburgring and third place at Barcelona propelled Marciello and ROWE Racing to fourth in the standings.[129][130][131] Marciello also made a one-off start in the Sprint Cup at Misano, winning race 1 with a late overtake on Vincent Abril.[132] The year's highlight came at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, where Marciello and teammates Farfus, Krohn, and Kelvin van der Linde profited from a penalty for the leading Manthey Porsche to claim victory.[133] This result, coupled with his Bathurst podium, fourth at Spa, and a victory at the Suzuka 1000 km, catapulted Marciello into title contention for the 2025 Intercontinental GT Challenge ahead of the final round in Indianapolis.[134] There, Marciello finished third in a weather-impacted finish, causing him to end up second behind Kelvin van der Linde in the IGTC.[135] At Macau, Marciello capped off the year by finishing second to his old rival Fuoco.[136][137]
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Racing record
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Karting career summary
Racing career summary
† As Marciello was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
‡ Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship.
Complete Formula Abarth results
(key)
† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
Complete Italian Formula Three results
(key)
† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results
(key)
† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results
(key)
† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
Complete GP2 Series/FIA Formula 2 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Formula One participations
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete GT World Challenge results
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup
*Season still in progress.
GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Intercontinental GT Challenge results
Complete Bathurst 12 Hour results
Complete ADAC GT Masters results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
† Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship.
Complete British GT Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
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Notes
References
External links
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