Sitting in a Ferrari has been my dream since I was a little kid. The opportunity to get into F2008 was incredible in itself. The fact that it has become a record is simply unbelievable. I can't put it into words, it's just a feeling of happiness", was Bortolotti in conversation with ORF.At and away. Suspended colleagues
For his title in Italy's Formula 3, Bortolotti, like second-placed Edoardo Piscopo and Rookie of the Year Salvatore Cicatelli, was invited by Ferrari to a one-day trial day in what is probably the most coveted cockpit in motorsport.
©image: a m – marketing/Karl Hartner
The Italo-Viennese distanced in difficult, because wet conditions not only his young colleagues by 1.225 (Piscopo) resp. 2.132 (Cicatelli) seconds, but also amazed the assembled technical crew of the current world constructors' champion, led by former Schumacher race engineer Steve Dyer. Ferrari bosses impressed
"We are impressed by the speed. That was really good", said Luca Baldisserri. "The conditions were not easy, but all three didn't make a mistake and showed their great potential", raved the Ferrari team manager.
©Image: a m – marketing/Karl Hartner
For Bortolotti, who grew up in Vienna and learned to race in the Austrian cart scene, the day with the Ferrari team was a unique experience. We prepared for the day in a simulator beforehand, so the feeling was immediate." F2008 "is simply a craze"
About the car of the current vice world champion Felipe Massa and the 2007 champion Räikkönen the youngster naturally went into raptures. "In the F2008 you feel comfortable right from the start. You can't compare it with the cars I've driven so far", explained the youngster. A statement that is also not surprising, because after all, Bortolotti had to tame with 850 hp about four times as much horsepower as he had been used to before. "The car is very demanding. Especially the braking is much shorter than I am used to. You also have to get on the gas earlier after the curves. That was just madness, you can't compare that with anything." "I knew what I wanted"
The tests didn't seem to start promising at all. Rain had made the track slippery overnight. Bortolotti had to go out first and acted as test driver on rain tires. After the track had dried up, he was then given another chance. The rest is in Ferrari's record and statistics books. "Although a dream come true for me, I was not nervous at all. I was completely focused and calm. I simply knew what I wanted, the rest then actually always comes naturally", called Bortolotti with his coolness a pillar of his so far steep career. Media attention
How his career will continue should be decided in the next few weeks. But the fact is that the track record not only helped Bortolotti in sporting terms but also in the media – not an unimportant building block in the career puzzle of a young racing driver. A full-page article in the Italian sports bible "Gazzetta dello Sport" was the top of the reporting. The congratulations of his classmates (Bortolotti is completing a five-year apprenticeship in a tourism school on the side, note.) were sure and just as important to him anyway. F3000 and GP2
"We have many ideas. Hopefully, we'll strike out on the right course again", explained Bortolotti, who recently also tested an F3000 in the Euroseries and also has an invitation for the GP2 series in the drawer, but doesn't want to rush into further planning. But the long term goal remains logically the top class and there decidedly the red racers from Maranello. "Ferrari knows the whole world. Without Ferrari there is no Formula 1", Bortolotti enthuses and hopes that a one-day dream will turn into a 365-day dream.