On Tuesday, the Finnish motorsport nation received pleasant news when Ferrari informed the 16-year-old Tuukka Taponen having entered the academy of the famous Italian stable. Access to Ferrari’s academy is already important for Taponen’s image. The current superstar of the Ferrari F1 team Charles Leclerc has once passed through that path to formula one.
Taponen convinced the Academy’s people at the test camp organized in October, where the three-time karting World Championship medalist was the best of the six-person driver group. The Finn was already at Ferrari’s test camp last year, but then the academy position opened up for parents from Tapo To Oliver Bearman and Rafael Chaves for Camamara.
Taponen is the first Finn in Ferrari’s academy. The previous Finnish driver of the F1 team’s junior academy had been with Red Bull Niko Kari. He was in the top team Academy in 2015–2017.
Head of the Ferrari Junior Academy In Marco Mata praised in the announcement how much the already followed young man had matured during the year. The test camp consisted of physical and psychological tests, interviews and driving a simululator. The week culminated in two days of tests with the F4 car.
– I would have been a bit surprised if the place hadn’t targeted me. The tests went as expected. They have had so many different drivers. They have seen what things have gone wrong with previous drivers and know how to help me, says Taponen.
The Academy brings resources
Being part of the Ferrari academy offers a lot of opportunities. In addition to Leclerc, Ferrari’s former academy drivers have reached Formula 1, for example, who drives for Red Bull Sergio Perez, Mick Schumacher as well as the deceased Jules Bianchi.
The drivers of the Ferrari Academy have been making a name for themselves recently. On Monday, it was reported that Briton Oliver Bearman, who joined Ferrari’s academy a year ago, will drive next season in the F2 series, which is traditionally the last step before formula one.
– When such an agreement is made, we and Ferrari do not want this to be a one-year thing. The future will show where this leads. Ferrari and Tuuka have the goal of going as far together as possible. If the project is successful, it means that Tuukka will drive in formula one and maybe one day for the world championship, Taponen’s manager Jussi Kohtala says.
Kohtala says that the Ferrari Academy makes it possible, among other things, to get the right people around. Taponen will probably move to Maranello during the winter. It has everything a young formula driver aiming for the top needs.
You don’t have to look for help here and there, but everything you need is in the same environment. The Academy is also financially involved.
– There are simulators and physical trainers. The work done outside the track is easier to do there. It’s a school for formula ones.
Taponen is a driver who has forged strong results in karting year after year.
– Many teams are interested in drivers of this level. However, you have to remember that the result was made in karting. However, formulas are a bit different.
– However, the doors open better for top teams, because such academies always reserve places for their own drivers from different top teams, so that their drivers have the best possible tricks to make a result, says Kohtala.
Next to the top team of small formulas?
Taponen will drive in the F4 series next season. The season starts already in January in the Asian F4 series. The idea is to drive in the summer in the Italian F4 series and some races in the corresponding series in Germany.
Taponen’s formula team will find out in the near future. One viable option is the Italian Prema, which is a top team in several small formula classes. Charles Leclerc and next season driving McLaren in formula one Oscar Piastri have driven Prema to the F2 series world championship.
Kohtala reminds that the academy drivers of many other teams also drive Prema.
– Most of the drivers who drive with Prema belong to the junior program. It tells you that not many drivers who are not part of the academy get to Prema.
– I know that even without the Ferrari pattern we would have had a chance for Prema. However, these things don’t matter, because Prema and Ferrari are Italian. Prema is the most likely option, Kohtala admits.
The idea of Taponen and his background team is to drive in the F4 series for only one season. After that, the goal is the Formula Regional and or the F3 series.
– Some of the drivers drive formula fours for two years. Our thinking is that we won’t be there for more than a year. After that, the idea is to drive two seasons of some kind, Kohtala reflects.
Taponen, who won the karting world championship in the 2021 season, decided to mature for another year before switching to formulas. Kohtala says that many people start formula patterns too young.
– Our career plan is based on taking care of one class always to the finish line with honor. It means that you have to make a result before moving on. We believe that the result will come right away in the first formula season.