november 23, 2023 - Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport
Grazie “Lello”: Mercedes-AMG thanks Performance Driver Raffaele Marciello for seven successful years
- Raffaele “Lello” Marciello leaves Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing at the end of the year
- Impressive track record ends with joint victory in FIA GT World Cup
- Stefan Wendl, head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing: “I really regret his departure”
After seven successful years, the co-operation between Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing and Performance Driver Raffaele Marciello comes to an end. In last weekend’s FIA GT World Cup at Macau, the Swiss had his final outing with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 and made it a farewell in style with a lights-to-flag victory and the title defence that came with it. The 28-year-old is the first driver ever to have won the FIA GT World Cup twice (2019, 2023). The historic victory at the Guia Circuit where he had driven his first race as an AMG-contracted driver back in the day marked the perfect conclusion of a great success story and partnership.
Raffaele Marciello racked up numerous race wins and records with the Mercedes-AMG GT3
Back in 2017, Raffaele Marciello, 22 years old at the time, made the step from single-seater to GT racing where he found a new home in the Mercedes-AMG customer sports programme. The co-operation was successful from the outset: Raffaele Marciello finished on the podium together with the AKKA ASP Team (today AKKODIS ASP Team) in his very first race with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 by coming third in the Blancpain Sprint Series at Misano. In the same year, he participated in the endurance racing classic at Spa, spent a total of over ten hours behind the wheel and also finished in third place.
Because of his speed and his team spirit, Marciello put himself forward for graduation to official Mercedes-AMG Performance Driver status still in the same year. A special moment for him as he likes to point out. The Swiss quickly earned himself the reputation of one of the world’s best GT3 drivers. In 2018, Marciello won the overall and Sprint Cup drivers’ titles in what is now known as the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS. In the 2022 and 2023 seasons, he scored back-to-back double title wins with the overall and Endurance Cup crowns.
In 2019, Raffaele Marciello scored another remarkable success with his maiden victory in the FIA GT World Cup in Macau. Podium results in the 24-hour races at Daytona and the Nürburgring-Nordschleife followed, as did three consecutive pole positions (2020, 2021, 2022) in the 24 Hours of Spa, a record in the GT3 era of the endurance racing classic in the Ardennes that has been going on since 2011. In 2022, together with Jules Gounon (AND) and Daniel Juncadella (ESP), he finally scored the coveted overall win in the high-class endurance race. In the same season, he was also crowned the ADAC GT Masters champion and therefore the international German GT champion. In 2023, next to the most recent success at Macau, Raffaele Marciello also finished on the podium in the 24-hour races at Spa and the Nürburgring as well as in the Bathurst 12 Hour. At the Nürburgring, Marciello established a new qualifying record and was presented with the popular Glickenhaus Trophy as the pole sitter.
Impressive statistics “made by Lello”
Since 2017, Raffaele Marciello has competed in 232 races on five continents with the Mercedes-AMG GT3. In these races, he scored 35 wins, 21 of them after starting from pole position. In total, he finished on the podium 102 times. As a result, he achieved an impressive podium finish rate of around 44 percent in this period. Raffaele Marciello had most of his race participations, wins and podium results together with the AKKODIS ASP Team. With this record, his unique success story at Mercedes-AMG comes to an end.
“Lello”, as he is called in the motorsport world, proves his driving abilities over and over again. On top of that, he is also interested in the technical details of his car. In this respect, he considers himself as being a “nerd”. Whenever he isn’t driving a race car, he is riding on two wheels as a hobby cyclist. The entire Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing team wishes him all the best for the new challenges he will be facing from next season onwards. During the official end-of-season celebration in Valencia, Marciello received a scale model of his winning car from the 2022 Spa 24-hour race as a farewell present.
“Of course, I really regret the fact that, in Raffaele, we have to say farewell to a long-standing and highly respected member of the World’s Fastest Family. For us as a brand and for our customer teams, it was always a pleasure, both from a sporting and from a human perspective, to work together with such a professional and fast driver. Not in the least because of that, we have racked up numerous race wins, championship titles and record in GT racing with Raffaele since 2017. I wish him all the very best for his private and professional future. We will always remember our joint achievements with pleasure and therefore, ‘Lello’ will always remain part of the Mercedes-AMG family. And because the motorsport world is small, as we all know, we will most certainly continue to meet Raffaele on and off the track.”
Stefan Wendl, Head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing
“Macau was my final outing for Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing. As a result, the race was even more emotional for me, after seven great years with the teams, the drivers and all my colleagues. Macau has a special place in my heart. It was here that I was allowed to drive my first and my last race as a contracted driver. Together with AMG, I have celebrated great wins, we had many highs and hardly any lows. I am really proud and happy when reflecting on our time together. I would like to thank everyone with whom I have worked together in the past years. I have made some friendships and have enjoyed many great moments. Now, I am curious what the next chapter in my life has in store for me.”
Raffaele Marciello, Mercedes-AMG Performance Driver
Raffaele Marciello’s time with Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing in figures:
Races: 232; victories: 35; podium results: 102; pole positions: 44; championship titles: 7; most races for: AKKODIS ASP Team (104), HTP-WINWARD (29), GruppeM Racing (27), Landgraf Motorsport (16), GetSpeed (10)
Raffaele Marciello’s biggest achievements with Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing:
Year | Series | Result |
2017 | Blancpain GT Series | 3rd place 24h Spa |
2018 | Blancpain GT Series | Champion |
Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup | Champion | |
Intercontinental GT Challenge | 1st place 10h Suzuka | |
2019 | FIA GT World Cup Macau | 1st place
|
Intercontinental GT Challenge | 3rd place 12h Bathurst | |
2020 | GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup / Intercontinental GT Challenge | Pole position 24h Spa |
2021 | IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship | 2nd place 24h Daytona (GTD) |
24h Nürburgring | 3rd place | |
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup / Intercontinental GT Challenge | Pole position 24h Spa | |
2022 | GT World Challenge Europe | Champion |
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup | Champion | |
ADAC GT Masters | Champion | |
Intercontinental GT Challenge | 1st place 9h Kyalami | |
Intercontinental GT Challenge | 1st place 8h Indianapolis | |
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup / Intercontinental GT Challenge | 1st place 24h Spa, Pole position | |
2023 | GT World Challenge Europe | Champion |
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup | Champion | |
FIA GT World Cup Macau | 1st place | |
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup / Intercontinental GT Challenge | 2nd place 24h Spa | |
24h Nürburgring | 3rd place, pole position | |
Intercontinental GT Challenge | 3rd place 12h Bathurst |
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