Ghiotto: “It was just like a couple of friends talking about life”

Luca Ghiotto experienced the remarkable work of our race marshals first hand in Baku last year, when his Campos car ran wide at Turn 16 and he ended up in the barriers. He was feeling lucked out and frustrated, but the marshals swiftly cleared up the remains of his Campos and helped to ease his mind.

Not just there to keep our races safe and the track clear of debris, they are the first people to interact with the drivers after an accident and can be timely confidants.

“I was standing there after the crash and there were a few Italian marshals, which I didn’t expect to find,” he recalled. “I had a good chat with them and it was good for me. After crashing out of the race I didn’t feel so good mentally, so it was a nice way to stop thinking about the race for a few minutes and just talk to them – it was just like a couple of friends talking about life.”

“All of us have had at least once when we have stopped and spent some time with them, and it is good sometimes to have a chat with them - to speak with them and to see what they think. The work that they do is amazing and they are the reason why we can get into the car without any fear, because we know that they are there for us.”

The Italian was discussing the 2019 FIA Volunteers’ Weekend, which we are celebrating here in Monaco. The FIA Formula 2 Championship is amongst ten series who are participating in the event this weekend, which aims to raise awareness and show appreciation for the work that they do.

“I think that it is priceless,” continued Ghiotto. “They don't do it for money - they come here to help out for free because they have a passion for motorsport and that is really nice. They play a big part in our sport, because they’re the reason that we are able to race safely out there. The work that they do is so fast and it is unbelievable sometimes how quickly they can move a car and make everything safe again.”

The motorsport community will be coming together this weekend to give thanks to those who hand over their time and make our race weekends possible. This was displayed first-hand during the Feature Race in Monaco, when a blockage on track forced the cars back into the pits, as the marshals dealt with a collision between Mick Schumacher and Tatiana Calderon.

As Ghiotto explained, all of the racers have needed them at some point and have never been let down. For Jack Aitken, it was a back injury suffered in 2015.

“Generally, I have luckily been on the right side of the fence, but I injured myself in 2015 and hurt my back,” he began. “The way that they handled that was brilliant, because they have to take care of you in that situation, and you are kind of in their hands. You have got to trust them to do their job properly in those situations.

“They are there every weekend and are pretty amazing. It is a pretty commonly said thing in most sports, but we don't go racing without these guys - right from the grassroots level up to these Formula 1 events. These guys put in days and days of training to make sure that they can do the jobs that they have to do, which is pretty incredible.”

Throughout the weekend, the entire motorsport community - from volunteers and officials to fans, drivers and members of the media - are encouraged to join in and show their appreciation on social media. Using the hashtag #FIAVolunteersWeekend on Twitter.

Nicholas Latifi also gave his appreciation to the work that they do, saying: “Without them we wouldn’t be able to race. They are volunteers, they aren't getting paid to do it - they are doing it because it is a passion of theirs. As drivers, we have to be thankful for them to be doing the job they do.

“As a driver, you hope that you never have to come in contact with a marshal because that means that you have stopped on track or had an accident, but they are really well trained at what they do and we can't do what we do without them."