Alessio Lorandi: “Racing is in my blood”

Alessio Lorandi is an Italian racing driver competing in GP3 Series for Jenzer Motorsport. He is currently 6th in the championship with 63 points, but how did his season go so far and what are his goals? We had the chance to talk with Alessio about the beginnings, F1 and his future plans, last weekend at the Hungaroring.

As most of the drivers, Alessio started his career with karting at a very young age “I was 5 years old, when my dad brought me to the gokart track” he started “It was love at first sight. I fall in love with this sport and I am really passionate since then. I have been doing this for so many years now but every day is like living a dream. I am very happy about it and thankful for the opportunity.”

Alessio is not the only one in his family who has passion for racing. “Our family got motorsport in its blood” said Alessio whose father is a former driver, while his brother Leonardo Lorandi is competing in Formula 4 this year. “We got the passion for racing from our father. With my brother, we both try to go as high as possible, aiming for F1 but of course it is not easy for anyone.”

In 2016 Alessio was competing in FIA F3 European Championship. After 7 rounds, he decided to leave and joined in GP3 Series to take part in the last two rounds of the season in Sepang and Abu Dhabi. “It was quite difficult for me to get used to the car and the tyres because you were simply not allowed to test. I had some issues in Abu Dhabi but I was getting closer and closer” said Alessio about the change. “Since then, we managed to have lot of testing in the winter and improved ourselves. I learnt a lot of the car, and now we are doing great results but I am definitely not finished yet. I still need to improve and learn more and more all the time.”

Following the successful winter tests, Alessio decided to stay with Jenzer Motorsport to complete his first full season of GP3 Series. His team is currently third in the championship with Arjun Maini, HAAS F1 Team’s development driver behind the other wheel. “It is great that we are pushing each other” said Alessio of his teammate “I am happy that we can get good results for the team because this is the goal we are working for. We are a team. Of Course, I prefer when I am in the front but it’s life… I really like this kind of competition we have with Arjun.”

Alessio is currently 6th in the championship with 63 points and 3 podiums in his pocket so far. He opened the season with an impressive double podium in Barcelona, then scored some points on both races in Spielberg. “Round one and two were not that bad. In Spielberg, I surely could have grabbed more points, but I had a bad start” He finished 7th on the feature race and 8th on the sprint race in Austria, where he was part of the season’s biggest crash with Dorian Boccolacci. “It was simply hard to overtake the cars in front” he said about the incident “We were all going tight together, when Dorian lost his brake point and fell over my rear wing, that is why he got penalized later. It was scary to see a car flying over me but luckily we were both not injured.”

In Silverstone, he got back to the top again, and grabbed another podium finish in the main race. “It is not that bad to be honest but I am definitely, aiming for more all the time” summarized the Jenzer driver his season so far.

Following a successful test in June, GP3 field came back to Hungary to complete its fourth round of the season. “We were pretty competitive during the test here” said Alessio of the Hungaroring. “It is definitely a tough track but it is really technical. It looks fun and I think we can be competitive this weekend as well.” After an unlucky qualifying session, he started the feature race from P9, and completed an incredible race with finishing fourth, what he considers as one of his best races so far. Unfortunately, due to puncture caused by debris he could not finish the sprint race.

As a promising talent close to Formula One, Alessio pays much attention to the top series where as everyone else, he also has a favorite driver “I think it is Hamilton. He is really talented, and I like that he is really social with the people. He got so many fans, and the way he works in media really interests me. Even if I don’t agree with, what he did in London, not showing up, I think he is the most talented out there. Maybe he is not the most consistent but I really like him.”

The talented Italian’s main goal is Formula One and he is on the best way to make it happen one day. “I am working really hard all day to achieve my goal, but of course it is not easy for anyone. There are only 20 seats in the championship. I think I have the chances, and I am pushing hard for it.” In case F1 would not work out, as a passionate racing fan Alessio has other plans besides on mind “Of course, I remain open minded. If one day I would not make it to F1, I would still look for other categories like IndyCar, Formula E or Nascar, but I am not going to stop. I am a racing driver. This is in my blood. I would not be able to sit in an office and do something else. It is a passion.”