BMW Adds Marciello to Factory Driver Roster

BMW M Motorsport has signed Raffaele Marciello to its factory driver roster ahead of an expected inclusion in its FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar effort with Team WRT.

Marciello joins the Munich marque’s ranks after wrapping up a six-year stint as a factory driver with Mercedes-AMG that saw him establish a reputation as one of the top drivers in global GT3 racing.

With Mercedes-AMG, Marciello took back-to-back Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup titles and won the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa in 2022 along with a number of other accolades.

He bowed out of his tenure with the Stuttgart brand with a commanding World Cup win at Macau earlier this month after announcing his departure ahead of the event.

The Swiss-flagged driver has been tipped to form part of Team WRT’s Hypercar program as the Belgian powerhouse outfit steps up to run the BMW M Hybrid V8 in the WEC next season.

Additionally, Marciello is expected to form part of the marque’s GT3 driver roster with details to be confirmed at a later date.

“I am very excited to be a BMW M works drivers starting from the upcoming season,” said Marciello.

“This is a significant step in my career. Having been a racing driver for many years, I am immensely proud to be able to complete for BMW M Motorsport in the future.”

Marciello’s future had been heavily linked to BMW for months as the Swiss driver seeks a way to join the rapidly expanding scene in top-class prototype racing, something that Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing boss Stefan Wendl recently admitted to Sportscar365 the brand wasn’t able to offer him.

For his part, BMW M Motorsport head Andreas Roos described signing Marciello as an unmissable opportunity.

“I am very pleased to welcome Raffaele Marciello to the BMW M Motorsport family,” Roos said.

“When you have the opportunity to sign a top-caliber driver like him, you must seize it. He has consistently demonstrated his prowess for years, particularly in GT cars.

“But there is much more to him. Before his GT career, Raffaele Marciello showcased his class multiple times in open-wheel racing. In our view, he brings the perfect all-around package with his versatility to further strengthen our already high-quality roster of works drivers.

“The multitude of racing programmes we will undertake in the coming years provides diverse deployment opportunities. We will announce the specific details of Raffaele Marciello’s racing plans in the coming weeks and months.”

Sanna: Lamborghini Held “Fair Discussions” With Marciello

Before signing with BMW, Marciello had also been linked to Lamborghini’s SC63 LMDh program that is set to debut in the WEC and IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup rounds next year.

Lamborghini head of motorsport Giorgio Sanna told Sportscar365 that “fair” discussions took place between the two parties, but stated that a contract was not signed.

“It’s something that was discussed in a very fair and professional way,” he said.

“We have waited until the end of the year to decide the drivers, because it’s an important decision for us. We have always discussed with more than one driver at the same time.

“At the end, we chose the best lineup in terms of performance, professionalism and commitment on our program. So I’m happy about all the drivers we have chosen.

“At the end of the day, it’s an important project. It’s important for us, all of the drivers who we have discussed with.

“Some of those have preferred to move in a different direction, and I wish the best to all of them. We are sure that we have chosen the right drivers with the right commitment for us.”

Daniel Lloyd contributed to this report