At 22, Italian racer Federico Malvestiti is now a known name in lower formula racing after featuring in two full seasons FIA Formula 3 in 2020 and 2022. Im very happy to say I spoke with him recently and was able to ask him 'A Bunch of Questions'!
Beginning his single seater career in 2015, Malvestiti raced in Italian F4 across four season as he got up to speed in Formula cars before moving to Formula Renault in 2019, the same season he made a two race debut outing in FIA F3, replacing Giorgio Carrara at Silverstone.
Two full seasons in F3 in 2020 and 2022 sandwiched a season out of Formula cars in the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia, sampling GT3 sportscar machinery for the first time.
Onto the questions!
1. What was it that initially made you interested in racing? I started racing when i was 5 years old because I saw a picture of my father driving a kart for fun.
2. Who is your racing hero or heroes? My hero is Gilles Villeneuve, big heart and big courage.
📸 Ferrari legend Gilles Villeneuve.
3. You’ve raced a lot of places; but what is your favourite to race? One of the most exciting places to race is Monte Carlo, but one of the coolest tracks to drive is Spa-Francorchamps.
📸 Above: F3 cars file through Spa-Francorchamps.
📸 Below: Federico in Formula Renault at Monte Carlo.
4. What’s your favourite circuit you’ve not yet raced? I would like to try the Nordschleife track.
📸 Bucket list: Nordschleife or...The Green Hell.
5. Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, Mick Schumacher and Fabienne Wohlwend are just 4 big names you’ve shared the race track with; who has been your toughest opponent so far? I raced against Piastri in Formula Renault and I have to say he was a tough opponent.
📸 Federico leads Caio Collet and Oscar Piastri in Formula Renault action.
6. You’ve had an association with Jenzer Motorsport for some time, you first joined them in 2017 in Italian F4; how important has that relationship been for you? I have a good relationship with Jenzer team. They helped me to grow in Formula 4 and we achieved some good results together. They also helped me to make possible for me to compete in FIA Formula 3, so I have to be grateful to them.
7. What’s been your greatest achievement so far in racing? For sure the double pole position in Imola (Formula 4) and first win in single seater in that weekend.
8. What do you still want to achieve? I would like to become a professional racing driver.
9. This is a question I’ve asked a few now; as a racing fan, do you own a collection of anything? For example, I own scale cars and helmets as well as various miscellaneous items, is there anything you collect? At the moment I'm not collecting anything…
10. What’s been the toughest part of your career so far? Probably the step from karting to Formula cars, as everything is completely different.
📸 Gearing up for action.
11. If my research is correct; you’re currently studying Mechanical Engineering in Milan…how important is understanding the mechanics of a car when driving it? I think it's very important to know how a change on the car can modify the balance of the car, but l'm not studying it because of my racing career.
12. I’m fascinated with helmet designs and car liveries; could you explain a little bit about your helmet design and what any of it means? The helmet I used this year was black as I there wasn't enough time to colour it. But normally my colours are blue and orange since I'm a kid, I like to have a design connected to the means of speed and in the last 3 helmets I had a gear on top as it's connected to my studies.
📸 Black this year but normally something a little brighter as seen below.
13. You found yourself racing in Chinese F4 for a couple races back in 2018; how different was the level of competition in Asia compared to racing in Europe? I'm 2018 l've been invited to only one race of the Chinese F4 championship. In that year the level was lower compared to Europe. I couldn't practice because of a problem on the car so I went straight in to qualifying without knowing the track, and still with some problems on the engine I qualified quite in front.
14. What’s your favourite helmet design ever? I liked a lot Sebastian Vettel's helmet for Red Bull in Singapore.
📸 Vettel's become known for eyecatching helmet designs.
15. What about your favourite race car livery? As my favourite colour is orange I'm enjoying quite a lot McLaren 2022 livery.
📸 This year's McLaren car.
16. To who do you give the most thanks to for helping you in your career so far? My father and my family to making all this possible and for always having believed in me.
17. Do you have any pre-race rituals or superstitions? I'm not superstitious but I have a warmup routine which I always do before jump in to the car.
📸 Race ready in Abu Dhabi.
18. Who has been your best teammate so far? I've been in a very good relationship with (Giorgio) Carrara in Italian F4 and (Petr) Ptacek in Formula Renault.
📸 Former teammate Giorgio Carrara.
19. You’ve done a little racing in other series’; is there any series you’d really like to try? Of course Formula series are the best for me but as they are very expansive I'll probably look to some GT championship for the future or LMP cars.
📸 Having a go at sports car racing in 2021.
20. How do you spend your time away from racing? What helps you unwind from the hectic schedule? Well, when I'm not busy with university or studies I like to play padel, drive karting, go to the gym, go out with friends and travel somewhere.
Thanks to Federico for taking the time out to chat! Hopefully we can catch up again sometime! Best of luck with whatever is next for you in 2023 and beyond!
📸 Image credit(s): Formula Motorsport Limited, Nurburgring, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Federico Malvestiti, Jenzer Motorsport, Porsche Carrera Cup Italia.
Comentarios