As one of the leading teams in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, Scuderia Ferrari is always on the lookout to find a future world champion and its Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA) is the first port of call for that search. 
  
Since its inauguration, the FDA has held selection programs all around the world with the final stop being the World Scouting Finals in Maranello where a winner will be chosen to join the Academy. 
  
This year, Motorsport Australia will be running the Asia Pacific and Oceania regional selection program for aspiring 14 to 17-year-old drivers and the event will take place at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia in September. 
  
Applications for the regional selection program are now being accepted until 10 August, with 24 successful applicants to be chosen for the three-day event where they will be evaluated on their driving, fitness and media skills. 
  
Click here to download an application form. 
  
Two representatives from the Asia Pacific and Oceania regional selection program will then head to the team’s base in Maranello where they will be up against other drivers from other regions such as Europe, South America and North America. 
  
Australian James Wharton was the winner of the first World Scouting Finals in 2020 and the Victorian has been reaping the benefits of being selected, with a seat in the Italian and German F4 Championships for Prema Racing. 
  
However, the FDA isn’t just a life changing opportunity for the winning driver, it’s an important part of the Italian giant’s goal of housing world champions. 

Ferrari’s Formula 1 Racing Director Laurent Mekies revealed that putting an emphasis on the Academy would go a long way in helping unlock the potential of future world champions. 
 
“The goal of the academy is quite simple really and it’s to source drivers who may be able to win one day with Scuderia Ferrari – it may sound trivial but that is the only reason why we have an academy,” Mekies explained. 
 
“The first thing that comes after the goal of the Academy is how we think the driver can grow because we believe in growth and we believe that by providing the boys and girls with the right environment, we will develop their skills. 
 
“But it’s not just their general skills, we believe they will go faster because we invest a lot of our energy to create an environment where we enhance their culture to make them blend with our world. 
 
“The Academy is a strategic key program for us. It is close to our values, it’s a way to give back to the sport and it’s a way to make sure we have the best drivers available in a few years’ time. 
 
“It’s actually a very tricky exercise to select young kids for the Academy because even though we have a very structured scouting program, which involves testing 10 of the best young drivers from around the world for the final, we only get them in Fiorano for a week, which is a very small picture. 
 
“It’s also a picture of where they are only now, so we try to detect their potential and not so much who’s going the fastest now, because who knows what’s going to be the case in five years. 
 
“It is all about who has within themselves the potential to develop.” 
 
The Academy is well renowned for promoting and funding young talent with some of individuals to be part of it including F1 stars Charles Leclerc and Mick Schumacher and current Scuderia Ferrari test driver Robert Shwartzman. 
 
Click here to read more about the regional selection program and to apply. 
 
The Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA) – Asia Pacific and Oceania regional selection program takes place at Sepang in Malaysia on 25-28 September.