Who is Antonio Fuoco? What you need to know about Ferrari's newest recruit

Fuoco will make his Formula One debut this year

Fuoco is only 19. He will now become one of the youngest drivers to be part of Formula One, with only Dutch Scuderia Toro Rosso driver Max Verstappen younger than him at 17. Verstappen, however, is a full-time driver rather than a test driver. The Italian is part of Ferrari’s Driver Academy, where Scuderia Ferrari encourage young driving talent for their own team.

Verstappen and Fuoco are old acquaintances, and have in fact been on the podium at Formula 3 before.

He started young! Fuoco began karting at the age of 4, and by 11 was not only competing internationally but winning. He took victory in the 60mini class in 2007 and quickly progressed up racing classes, finding himself in the KF2 category, for kart racing drivers, by 2012.

The following year, he began his single-seater racing career, signed by Italian motorsport company Prema Powerteam to their Junior team. He participated in the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps, a race that had only been instituted that year. He finished top of the drivers’ standings that year, with 6 wins of the 12 races that year.

Staying with Prema Powerteam, Fuoco went on to Formula Three last year. He won the Grands Prix at Silverstone and in Austria, at the Red Bull Ring, finishing fifth in the drivers’ standings overall. He was on the podium for 10 races of the 32 that year.

Scuderia Ferrari have just announced that the young driver will join their premier class team for in-season testing alongside Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen after the Austrian GP.