Ferrari Signs 11-Year Old Canadian Karting Champion

Ferrari seems to take their Driver Academy seriously these days, as the Italian company has already started recruiting young stars to be part of their youth programme for the upcoming years. Debuted less than one year ago through the signing of French GP2 driver Jules Bianchi, the Ferrari Driver Academy now welcomes a brand new star, this time from across the Atlantic.

We're talking about 11-year old Quebec-born Lance Stroll, who has been recently entered in the Maranello programme. The news was confirmed by Ferrari via a press release, in which it praises the exceptional abilities shown by Stroll in recent karting competitions.

“We are pleased to welcome Lance to our group. He is very young, but he has already shown in karting that he is exceptionally talented. We will follow him step by step in his forthcoming events in North America and he will soon also take part in our courses at Maranello,” said Luca Baldisserri, who runs the Ferrari Driving Academy.

Among Stroll's impressive performances until now, one can name two wins in the Canadian national championship in the Rotax Mini Max category as well as Coupe de Montreal and Coupe du Quebec Micro Max Championship in 2008 and both Mini Max Championships in 2009.

“Last year, Lance finished sixth in the World Finals at Lonato in the Mini Roc category and second in the Rotax Micro Max Florida Winter Tour, a series he won this year in Mini Max along with the championships for the Tag/Cadet Florida Winter Tour,” added the Ferrari statement.

Consequently, Lance was nominated by the Fedération Sport Automobile du Quebec as Rookie of the Year in 2008 and Driver of the Year in 2009.