Behind the dream called Formula 1, Argentine pilots and other corners of Latin America experience the hard uprooting, since they must train abroad. Every time they emigrate at a younger age and this is the case of Santino Panettawho at 14 years old competes in the European Karting Championship, one of the most important in the world and since this season he moved to Italy with his father, Diego. Her campaign is managed by the same managers as Franco Colapinto and it is a diamond in the rough.
At the age of 6, his paternal grandfather Marcelo appeared at his house with a karting. After getting on it for the first time, the crush was immediate and shortly after he began running in a federated way. “I’m from Campana. I started with my grandfather and my uncle (Federico), who raced in karting and cars. That’s why the family was already involved in the environment. One day my grandfather took me and my brother to try karting on a track located in Suipacha, near our city. We start going every weekend. “We bought a bigger engine, a Rotax, which was used to race internationally in Argentina,” he tells Infobae at a stop during a test in France.
“I started testing on bigger circuits like Buenos Aires, Zárate and we also went racing in Córdoba. Four years ago we started racing in Italy, which is the base of karting since it is the best level. “This is going to be the first time I’m going to be there all season,” adds the team driver. CRG Official Racing Team.
His highest aspiration this year is World Cup of the International Karting Commission (CIK) of the International Automobile Federation (FIA)the tournament that, for example, Ayrton senna He tried to win until he was 22 years old, but he couldn’t achieve it. Max Verstappen, for example, did achieve that ecumenical title. “This year I compete in the European Championships which take place in one day. They are from the CIK of the FIA. It is run in Spain, France and Slovakia. The World Cup will be in England,” he says.
“I was twice Argentine champion, once in Rotax and another in IAME in Mini. And in the Argentine Championship in Juniors 175 cm3″, he highlights. He represented Argentina in the Rotax Max Grand Final and in the FIA Karting Academy, in which he finished fourth overall among the best young karting drivers in the world, crowning 2023 with a podium in Denmark, in addition to participating in the European, World and WSK championships, with outstanding performance.
Regarding the competition system, he explains that “in each race with 90 drivers in Valencia, first you go to the classification in which you are ordered by the best time in your group and then come the rounds in which you add points. The one with the most points is the one who will start later in the race prior to the final, in which you also score points. The 36 best start the final.”
He left his native Campana and moved to Italy, which is the mecca of karting. There she lives alone in an apartment and sometimes she receives a visit from her parents or another member of her family. “I live in an apartment that is five blocks from the team workshop in Desenzano del Garda, near Milan, in Italy. I go to the workshop every day to work with them. I don’t have an obligation to go, but I like being there and I started to lend a hand. In the races we move around Europe in vans and stop in hotels,” he says. For now he is not very good at cooking and he admits while laughing that he puts a lot into “the food he takes from the workshop restaurant.”
His father Diego (39 years old) tells this medium that the entire budget comes from family efforts. “We gave up family vacations and they were replaced by being able to go visit him. Since we can’t all travel together, we split up. First it was me, then the mother and in a few days her grandmother will travel,” says the beverage merchant. Santino has two siblings, Bautista (12) and Delfina (3).
Panetta had to leave school in person and continues his studies in a distance program offered by the Argentine Army College. “I had to leave him because of the fouls. So I started a remote program for more than 30 days. I have virtual classes and they send me the activity and I do them. I see any doubts I have in the virtual classes.”
Although he pursues his dream, he confesses how being uprooted at his young age affects him: “Obviously I miss the meals, the place, the family and the friends. There comes a time when I miss even school (laughs) because it is not the same to study alone, but doing what I like most is part of the effort I have to make to move forward and grow.”
Santino, like so many other kids who emigrate abroad and tend to grow up suddenly, states that “ever since we started traveling I have considered it and from the beginning I have thought about it seriously and I am making the greatest effort so that when I can run it costs me as little as possible. “I want to have a career as a professional.”
He also tells of the complications of running on unknown routes: “Almost always where I run is a new track and you don’t know how.” Unlike other young people, he does not rely only on the simulator to learn the tracks and applies an old-fashioned method. “Before I did the simulator thing, but what I always do It is watching videos of the tracks and taking notes on a map of the track, braking on that side, having reference points, or here in France it rains a lot and you have to take references from the chassis. That when it comes to running can make a difference.”, he asserts.
He defines himself with a “calm, neat when it comes to keeping time” driving style. In the race I throw myself wherever I can to be able to overcome or if I’m slow to defend my position. In different ways I am conservative and aggressive.”
Its references are “Max Verstappen, but not only now because he is in F1, but because he was also very good at karting. He won every race, wet and dry. And as an Argentine, Franco (Colapinto) because of how it grew.”
It is represented by Bullet Sport Management, the same company that manages Colapinto’s career, who already gave him some advice. “At Bullet they are helping me a lot as a person and also as a driver. I met him at an awards ceremony at the ACA when I was runner-up. There I met him and we chatted a little.”
He reveals that “being able to reach F1 is the best for me. I always try to get the most out of it. After karting the idea is to do some testing in a Formula car.”
In it European Championship Two dates were disputed. “In Spain I finished 52nd out of 85 drivers and in France 36th out of 74, but I crashed in the final,” he recalls about the spectacular crash he suffered in the French competition. The results are relative considering he doesn’t know the clues and this is his first experience in the Old World on a regular basis. The next date will be in Slovakia from June 20 to 23. Another Argentine boy called Fausto Arnaudo.
While the world will be on England from September 12 to 15. This is the competition organized by the CIK of the FIA and is the most important tournament on the planet in the specialty.
The budget is a key factor in motorsports and more so to be able to advance in promotional categories and reach the Formula 1. But the uprooting and experiences thousands of kilometers away of boys who until recently were children and are just teenagers play a predominant role. Everything is to reach the top of motor sport.
SEQUENCE OF ITS TURNOVER IN FRANCE:
