The season of the Finnish promise who belongs to Ferrari’s driver academy has been a success, even though things went sticky in Monza. The game gets tougher the closer you get to the gates of the Formula Ones.
2.11. 21:19•Updated 2.11. 21:31
The October Saturday morning at the Monza pit is dark and rainy. It’s only 7:20, but Tuukka Taponen is already doing his warm-up routines at the back of the team’s pit tent, because there is only a little over an hour until the start of qualifying for the Formula Regional series. The Finnish promise wakes up his muscles with the help of a rubber band.
Team mate Enzo Delignywho belongs to Red Bull’s protégés, on the other hand, jumps a rope in the drizzling rain, like a boxer in a fight. In the end, the morning warm-ups are useless, as the time trial is canceled after the first lap due to poor visibility. It’s like a prelude to Taponen’s ultimately sticky race weekend, which ends up with ninth place and a suspension due to another driver’s crash.
Overall, however, the season of the Finnish promise belonging to Ferrari’s driver academy has been a success. At the beginning of the year, Taponen convincingly won the Middle East series championship in the Formula Regional class, and in the Euroseries of the same class, which ended in Monza, he was third in the final points. In the R-Ace GP team represented by Taponen, they have previously grown towards Formula 1, for example Oscar Piastri, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly. The stable boss Thibaut de Merindolin according to the Finn has potential in the same category.
– Comparison with those drivers is difficult, because everyone is their own special individual. I am sure that Tuukka has the speed to belong to the same group. His natural speed is enough. Of course, it is difficult to predict how the development will continue in the future, but I think he has all the potential to progress to Formula One, says de Merindol.
– The level of this series is tough. It is rare for a rookie driver to finish in the top five in the final points. I think it’s a very good performance. Reaching the top three is quite exceptional in my opinion.
F1 one step closer
Next season, Taponen will compete in the F3 class with a car from the powerful ART Grand Prix team, which over the years has been driven by, among others Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, George Russell and Valtteri Bottas. The Formula Ones will then be one step closer, literally, because the races will be run in conjunction with the F1 championships.
– We wanted a team that has been successful in the past and has the resources to develop the car. Development is of course very limited, but the importance of adjustments grows all the time as we get closer to Formula 1, Tuukka Taponen characterizes.
Next season, the race weekends will be at the same time as Formula One, says Taponen.
– However, there are only ten race weekends and the driving time will decrease. The rest of the time is spent practicing physics and basics outside the track. Preparing for competitions with the simulator plays a really important role, he says.
In mid-November, Tapose has one more new experience in front of him in a Formula Regional car, as he will start in the traditional Macau GP race. Its winners in past decades have been driven by, for example Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacherwhich memorably crashed in the concrete gutters of the track Mika Häkkinen with. In the past, F3 cars have been used to compete in Macau, but now the drivers have Formula Regional class equipment to drive. It suits Tapose.
– I’m happy to go there. It will be my first street race and it will surely be a great event as well. The starting points should be quite good. The car is the same with which I won the Middle East series championship at the beginning of the season.
Manager Jussi Kohtalan according to Macao was not originally part of Taponen’s competition program for the season, but the decision to participate was made with the future in mind.
– The main reason why we went there is that next season, for example, there will be a Monaco-type street track with Formula Threes.
A mentor to help
The game gets tougher as you get closer to the gates of the Formula Ones. Aaro Vainio in the role of mentor, Taponen brings his own valuable experience bank to the background. More than a decade ago, he was a formula promise himself, who had the stamp of a top manager behind him Nicolas Todt. However, the cooperation ended after two seasons in the GP3 series. Vainio’s task is to use his experience to help Tapos avoid potential pitfalls and also act as a coach.
– On the track, things can come as concrete advice: Don’t use that corner stone or on that track you should do this and that. For example, Tuukka had never raced in Hungary before, and for me it was always a good race weekend. Tuukka took a double win there, which left him with a feeling of success. Maybe I was able to bring my contribution to the whole, Vainio describes.
He also acts as a kind of link and filter between the driver and the team.
– Tuukka might inadvertently say something to me about the car’s behavior, in which case I make sure and remind him that he will definitely raise the issue with the engineer as well. Something may not be the most important thing in the world in Tuukka’s opinion, but all small things form a whole.
Tuukka Taponen himself believes that this season he has developed the most precisely as a feedback provider in the direction of the team. The effectiveness of communication is of great importance, because the driving time on race weekends is quite limited. However, the most important thing can be found inside the helmet. Confidence.
– I have no pressure that the result would not come. I have fought for championships and race wins, so I know I can do it, says Taponen.
As if tailor-made for a Ferrari protege, his 18th birthday coincides with the Monza race weekend. Before cutting the celebration cake in the team’s pit rooms, the formula promise can listen to the congratulations sung in Finnish and English. As a bonus, the mechanics also translate the same into French.