Antonio Fuoco to test for Ferrari in Austria - MotorSportsTalk

19-year-old Antonio Fuoco will get his first taste of a Formula 1 car in Austria next week when he tests for Scuderia Ferrari at the Red Bull Ring.

Fuoco is a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, and is currently racing in the GP3 Series with Carlin following a year in the FIA F3 European Championship alongside current Toro Rosso driver Max Verstappen.

The Italian youngster will finally get his chance to try out the SF15-T car in Austria next week at the two-day test following this weekend’s grand prix.

Fuoco will share driving duties with Ferrari reserve driver Esteban Gutierrez, who got his last run in the 2015 car at the previous two day test held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya following the Spanish Grand Prix in May.

The running at the Red Bull Ring will act as the final in-season test of 2015, and is expected to herald the arrival of a number of upgrades for teams such as Force India and McLaren.

Of the four days of in-season testing this year, teams have been required to allocate two to young drivers that lack grand prix experience.

Ferrari has filled its allocation with Fuoco and fellow FDA member Raffaele Marciello, who tested for the team in Barcelona alongside Gutierrez last month.

Marciello will be in Austria for the test, but will instead spend a day with Sauber F1 Team for whom he acts as a reserve driver.

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The NBC Sports IndyCar power rankings naturally were as jumbled as the action on the streets of St. Petersburg after a chaotic opener to the 2023 season.

Pato O’Ward, who finished second because of an engine blip that cost him the lead with a few laps remaining, moves into the top spot ahead of St. Pete winner Marcus Ericsson and Alexander Rossi, who finished fourth in his Arrow McLaren debut. Scott Dixon and St. Pete pole-sitter Romain Grosjean (who led 31 laps) rounded out the top five.

St. Pete pole-sitter Romain Grosjean (who started first at St. Pete after capturing his second career pole position) Callum Ilott (a career-best fifth) and Graham Rahal entered the power rankings entering the season’s second race.

Three drivers fell out of the preseason top 10 after the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – including previously top-ranked Josef Newgarden, who finished 17^th after qualifying 14^th.

Heading into Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, here’s NBC Sports’ assessment of the current top 10 drivers through the first of 17 races this year (with previous preseason rankings in parenthesis):

NBC Sports’ IndyCar Power Rankings

1. Pato O’Ward (5) – If not for the dreaded “plenum event” in the No. 5 Chevrolet, the Arrow McLaren driver is opening the season with a victory capping a strong race weekend.

2. Marcus Ericsson (7) – He might be the most opportunistic driver in IndyCar, but that’s because the 2022 Indy 500 winner has become one of the series’ fastest and most consistent stars.

3. Alexander Rossi (10) – He overcame a frustrating Friday and mediocre qualifying to open his Arrow McLaren career with the sort of hard-earned top five missing in his last years at Andretti.

4. Scott Dixon (3) – Put aside his opening-lap skirmish with former teammate Felix Rosenqvist, and it was a typically stealthily good result for the six-time champion.

5. Romain Grosjean (NR) – The St. Petersburg pole-sitter consistently was fastest on the streets of St. Petersburg over the course of the race weekend, which he couldn’t say once last year.

6. Scott McLaughlin (6) – Easily the best of the Team Penske drivers before his crash with Grosjean, McLaughlin drove like a legitimate 2023 championship contender.

7. Callum Ilott (NR) – A quietly impressive top five for the confident Brit in Juncos Hollinger Racing’s first race as a two-car team. Texas will be a big oval litmus test.

8. Graham Rahal (NR) – Sixth at St. Pete, Rahal still has the goods on street courses, and Rahal Letterman Lanigan remains headed in the right direction.

9. Alex Palou (4) – He seemed a step behind Ericsson and Dixon in the race after just missing the Fast Six in qualifying, but this was a solid start for Palou.

10. Will Power (2) – An uncharacteristic mistake that crashed Colton Herta put a blemish on the type of steady weekend that helped him win the 2022 title.

Falling out (last week): Josef Newgarden (1), Colton Herta (8), Christian Lundgaard (9)