Santino Ferrucci reiterates that he has learned from the mistake committed in FIA Formula 2 Championship as Dale Coyne Racing defends the decision to hire him for two IndyCar rounds.
The team announced Ferrucci in the third Honda car with the sponsorship from Cly-Del Manufacturing for the last two rounds in the 2018 season last week alongside regulars Sebastien Bourdais and Pietro Fittipaldi.
The decision wasn’t received on well by fans around the world who watches F2 as well as IndyCar. The American has had a rough time in F2 when he was banned for two rounds and was then left off by his team Trident as well.
Since then he has decided to switch focus to IndyCar, where he made his debut during the Detroit double-header. The round in Portland will be his first outing in any competition since the last time he drove in F2 at Silverstone.
Ferrucci has been under-fire for few months now, but the 20-year-old says he understands he did wrong and has learned from his mistakes and feels ready to get back into action. “If you talk to a lot of people who know me, they know what’s true and what’s not,” he said.
“What happened in Europe was my fault. I made a mistake. I’ve learned from it. Since then, I’ve had a lot of time to reflect and to understand what I did wrong and how to change and what to do better.
“I let emotions get the better of me. It cost me quite a bit. I’m ready to get back behind the wheel.” DCR’s owner wasn’t too fussed with Ferrucci as well, repeating his words of professionalism seen from the driver during the Detroit weekend.
“He doesn’t want to be a bad boy,” he said. “We ran Paul Tracy in his first IndyCar race, he was a bad boy. He earned his stripes. Ferrucci feels very bad about what happened over there.
“I personally think it all came together at the wrong time and got blown out of proportion. That mistake has cost him some stuff, but he’s learned a lot from that. He’s 20, but he’s probably 23 after that incident and experience. He’s learning.
“[Also] I’m going by what I know and what I see in front of me,” he added. Meanwhile, Ferrucci credited Dan Wheldon for inspiring him to take up racing as his career and now wants to compete full-time in IndyCar in the future.
“He [Wheldon] thought I had a fire for this,” said the Haas F1 Team junior. “He changed my life. If it wasn’t for Dan, I wouldn’t have much of a racing career. I really want to be in this series full time [now].
“That’s the idea, that’s the goal. These are just two races and [hopefully] a little more towards preparation to something that’s coming next year. It’s [the competition] not something I’ve been used to in a very long time.
“I think it’s the reason you see [two-time champion Fernando] Alonso leaving F1. It’s very different to what we have in Europe. As a driver, you have a serious appreciation for it. I really love INDYCAR. I love the racing here.”