Bortolotti States Disappointment After Ferrari Ousting

Former rising star in the world of motor racing for his country Italy, Mirko Birtolotti now finds himself at a crossroads. He has to make a decision as to whether he wants to continue pursuing his dream to become an F1 racer or switch to other racing series that don't need that much effort to get into.

Needless to say, the 20-year old Italian has a year to forget in 2010, being ousted from two young drivers development programmes with two of the major teams in Formula One: Red Bull and Ferrari.

After first being kicked out of Red Bull's development programme, Lady Fortune seemed to smile upon him once again as he was picked by Ferrari for their Driver Academy programme. consequently, he was secured a spot in the GP3 Series, where he ranked a disappointing 16th place, failing to score a single podium in 12 races.

A few weeks back, Bortolotti was let known that he is no longer part of Ferrari's young drivers' scheme.

“From the F1 test engineers I've only had good feedback and they're always happy with my performance and my work,” said the soon to turn 21 year old driver, who caught attention by setting the fastest ever lap at Fiorano in the 2008 car.

“To be honest, I've been thinking about making a career in touring or sports cars. I'm a racing driver, not a dreamer,” he added, talking to motorline.cc. “On the other hand, I have had so much encouragement that I am still working on my goal and will not give up. And this encouragement, also from important people in formula one, motivates me a lot.”