Formula 1: Is this the end of Formula 2 driver Santino Ferrucci?

Faced with a hard challenge to his Formula 1 aspirations, can Formula 2 driver Santino Ferrucci recover, or is it game over for the American driver?

When you are a driver competing for one of the 20 most coveted seats in racing, the last thing you want to happen is what occurred between Trident Racing teammates Santino Ferrucci and Arjun Maini this past weekend at Silverstone Circuit in Formula 2 during the support race for Formula 1.

F2, formerly known as GP2, is the last level of FIA-sanctioned open-wheel racing before F1. As such, drivers in the series are held to a higher standard than those in regional Formula 3 and other junior formulas. It is even more prudent that drivers know how to control their emotions in and out of the car when they are associated with an F1 team like Ferrucci is as a development driver for Haas.

The bosses are looking for speed and skill behind the wheel as well as marketability and temperament to sell to potential sponsors. What Ferrucci did over the British Grand Prix weekend in F2 may have ended his chance at an F1 seat for good.

In junior formula racing, there’s an unwritten agreement that drivers do everything in their power to bring the car back in one piece because they are borrowing the car and teams have little time and money to fix unnecessary damages.

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However, hitting your teammate with your car on the cooldown lap, driving without the necessary equipment and using a phone while doing so does not paint the picture of a driver who is committed to proper racing and who possesses a cool head. Ferrucci’s subsequent apology on Twitter doesn’t show a repentant driver, either.

For Ferrucci to use his age, inexperience and ethnicity as excuses for dangerous and improper driving and behavior doesn’t tell potential team bosses and teammates that he is committed to racing. It says that he is sorry that he was caught and was ready with weak excuses to try to mitigate damages.

Even if Ferrucci has had “a horrific year”, his actions during the British Grand Prix weekend have damaged his F1 career outlook immensely. No team and no teammate will want to drive with someone who is easily angered and will risk team property and teammates’ lives to let off some steam.

In motorsport, drivers get one chance to make a lasting impression, and how they choose to make that impression will determine their likelihood in moving up or down the racing ladder.

Some drivers will see adversity and try harder than the others they are competing against. Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton are some examples of these drivers. Others will crumble at the pressure put on them and take it out on others. Jolyon Palmer, Romain Grosjean and Daniil Kvyat are some examples of these drivers.

Ferrucci’s talent in karting allowed him this opportunity in F2, but his temperament and decision-making has already cost him, as he has incurred fines totaling €66,000 as well as a four-race ban, and they will continue to do so in the future if he lets them. However, there is a glimmer of hope for Ferrucci, and that is Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen.

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If Santino Ferrucci is serious about an F1 drive, he needs to reevaluate his commitment and his race craft in the same way that Max Verstappen has done. Since the accident with Daniel Ricciardo in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Verstappen’s mental fortitude and driving decisions have impressed many in the paddock. Ferrucci needs to find his soon or else his F1 aspirations and potentially his racing career could be in jeopardy.