Marciello and Juncadella to end commitment with Mercedes

If you think that the teams are the only entities in GT racing that are switching allegiances and looking after new projects, but the drivers are making their choices too, with two key changes happening from this week as long time factory drivers for Mercedes-Benz will leave the manufacturer and leave quite the void in the OEM’s factory roster.
 
Present in Macau for the return of the Macau GT Cup to the international scene as the FIA GT World Cup, Daniel Juncadella and Raffaele Marciello will be two heavy losses for Mercedes-Benz, with both having long time commitments that end after the races at the Circuito da Guia, as Juncadella and Mercedes end a relationship that lasted since 2013 with GT racing commitments being in place since 2015, while Marciello has seven years with the three pointed star brand that had an incredible impact in the manufacturer’s GT racing history.
 

Curiously, both drivers emerged from PREMA Poweteam’s single seater activities, with both finding fulfilling GT and touring car careers once the path to Formula 1 was shut. It is a known fact the top GT3 drivers have a busy schedule to juggle as they travel here and there to compete in multiple series, and Juncadella and Marciello were among the top choices for Mercedes when they needed a fully professional effort, like in the FANATEC GT World Challenge Europe and in the Intercontinental GT Challenge, with them being working together in some occasions, with the 2022 season being a decorated one for them in GTWC and IGTC.
 

Marciello’s impact in special will be remembered in the Mercedes history as he never lost consistency during the seven years in action, with most of this time being spent with Akkodis-ASP, as he is the last FIA GT World Cup champion in 2019, GTWC Europe Sprint Cup winner in 2018 and Endurance Cup winner in 2022 and 2023 while also winning the ADAC GT Masters in 2022, while also establishing himself as pole position collector and usual pacesetter for the teams he drove, which is proven by the fact that all his title winning campaigns have at least one pole position, with the 2022 ADAC GT Masters season registering a record of five poles for the Swiss driver.
 
As it happened with some teams that moved from their current allegiances to pursuit broader opportunities, Marciello and Juncadella might have more open doors when they leave Mercedes. Juncadella already confirmed the switch to Corvette to act as their factory driver in FIA WEC and IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship as General Motors and Pratt & Miller will expand their roster to accommodate their own needs and those of the customer teams that will race with the new Corvette Z06 GT3.R, which will debut at the 2024 ROLEX 24.
 
About Marciello, no plans were announced for the 2024 season, so it may go to either prototype or more GT racing. Akkodis-ASP will step out of GTWC Europe next year, changing from Mercedes to Lexus as they will field a pair of Lexus RC-F GT3s in the newly formed LMGT3 class in FIA WEC once they get the approval of their entry, with exclusive commitment in place for at least two years.
 
PHOTOS: SRO/Jules Benichou, Patrick Hecq, Mercedes-AMG