FEDERICO SCERIFFO ON HIS LIFE OF DRIFTING.

Photo courtesy of Larry Chen

Visiting Fede In His Homeland.

What’s better than a ride along in America with PRO Formula DRIFT driver Federico Sceriffo?

Visiting with him, his crew chief, and his adorable pup in person at his shop in Varano de' Melegari, Italy!

We had this rare pleasure in November 2023 and Sceriffo did not disappoint! He spent loads of precious time touring us through his shop, telling stories about his cars, and sharing even more about his professional drifting journey. We even had the chance to visit the local area track, where Sceriffo and his Italian drifting friends gather every month for Drift Matsuri Italy!

Here’s a snapshot of the discussion with FD’s Italian drifting professional!.

How did you find your way into automotives and drifting?

The passion for cars has always been there from a very young age. I dreamed of becoming a rally driver, but had no experiences to sell and nothing to present. so let’s just say the dream of rally never started.

In 2003, I discovered drifting the Japanese drifting on YouTube. For me, it was mind blowing. I’ve been driving since I was 13 years old and have always liked to oversteer. When I saw this video, I became more curious about drifting. When I learned more, I fell in love with it.

In 2005, they brought competitive drifting for the first time to Italy, and I was invited. Not by the organizer, but by a friend that knew about it. Only professional Gran Turismo drivers and professional rally drivers were invited, so I was the only ‘nobody’ and they gave me a chance. I drove a yellow, all-wheel-drive Subaru owned by an Italian tuner. We made second place and that was the start of my drifting career.

Photo courtesy of Ella Sellentin

You’ve had quite a career! What were some of your favorite wins?

Probably, the one that was most striking was Tokyo 2012. From 2006 to 2012, we won in Cyprus, we won in Russia, we won in China, and we won in Paris. All of them before the date in Tokyo. Tokyo was against the best international drifters that were invited by D1GP.

“That win, it was special. And, also because I had masters there. It was beautiful.”

Then, Team Orange threw me into China, and I raced for Red Bull China. Team Orange is one of the most historic drifting teams in the world, and Kumakubo is one of the four inventors of this sport, so I am lucky enough to be one of the few (if not the only) non-Japanese guy that has been taught by Kuma himself.

Photo courtesy of Ella Sellentin

What led you to FD?

Well, it was on my bucket list. I mean, I have traveled all over the world and I kept the U.S. maybe for my cherry on the cake.

I traveled the world when I was young with my dad and my mom, and I've been going to American schools since I was young, so I felt like the U.S. was a home far from home already. And, I've never been racing in a place where I understand the language - never in my life - so for many, many briefings, I haven't understood anything they were saying. Many times, it was a guessing game, because you can’t hear the trends of that track. Yeah, you can understand when the guy says, “This is the line,” but then, you miss out on all the little ingredients that the judge wants. So I had a double hard time. I always had to outperform my opponent, and when I came to the U.S., I said, “WOW, I understand everything the people are saying and it's fantastic!”

I’ve always been sure of what the USA could've been for me. It’s an amazing platform. I call it the theater and it's all my huge world theater. If you want to feel like a gladiator or a samurai- it depends where you come from - or like a real cowboy, then you go to Japan and race against them. And, if you achieve something there, then you can go to the U.S. and be in Hollywood with the others. Because, FD is more like Hollywood, and the actors are real. I mean, they are the real deal, and the cars are the real deal, and the teams are the real deal, but I see it as two different ways of carrying on your career.

Photo courtesy of Larry Chen

So, the first Ferrari in FD. Why?

Why not? To be different.

Is it difficult? The Ferrari versus a different chassis? 

Well, yeah, because they studied a lot to make the car not oversteer. It’s a track car, and it's a transaxle car. I got the gearbox in the back, so it's a very track-balanced car. The transaxle does not make it only a track car, but that's just how the whole chassis is designed, and it's just a car that wants to go straight and fast. But, we wanted to be the first ones to bring the supercar to the drifting world.

How has it gone? It's been five years in FD, with some good luck, and a little bad luck.

Luck and bad luck for me don't exist. Bad luck is usually human error. Good luck is hard work. 

Like all of the PRO drivers, you want to win. You're feeling it, right? We missed you last year so much, but you have plans for the future. Tell everybody more.

I'm usually the one that his plans are… not to tell his plans. I'm usually that guy, and mainly, I just come from the last generation that has not grown up with the social network and stuff. I've grown from a very old-school type of family - don’t brag, don’t say, don’t show, don't this, don’t that… just do.

There is so much in me that makes it a double-edged sword for my campaigns. Why? Because I’ve had a hard time exposing what other drivers expose daily. I have a lot that I can show, but I see 80% of it as a brag, and I hate bragging.

I will tell you some plans though, of course…

To continue pressing people in the drifting world, giving the impression I am not doing it for myself, but I am doing it for them. Otherwise, I would be racing with an S15 with a 2jz, and be annoyed by winning. I'm not joking.

“My goal is to continue writing history and making a difference. I want to achieve results, which is more difficult when you try to impress, and I'm not living to impress others….I'm living to give emotions. I'm living to share emotions. My goal is not about impressing and it's good to understand the difference. I just want to leave a mark.”

Something like, “That guy was different.” I just want to be out of the box. I don't follow any trend that other drivers follow. Not on purpose. It's just like that.

So, I like human relationships. I give a big value to that. I give a big value to lifetime, instead of what you are on a screen. I still care a lot of what I am from real life, in a good and a bad way. I’m absolutely far from being perfect - oh yeah, far far - but  at the same time, I sometimes see colleagues that when they do socials, they are somebody. I don’t know who, but when you see them in life, it’s kind of like, “For real?”

I don’t want to be that guy. I will never be that guy. I want to be the guy that when you see him in real life, it’s like, Holy Sh*t, this guy is way more than what he can share on his socials. 

You are competing now in the United States, right?

Yes. We are excited and preparing for the 2024 PRO season. We took a break in 2023, because of bureaucracy and all that goes with being an international driver. It wasn’t an expected break, so we are going to come back stronger, and I'm usually famous for coming back stronger.

Photo courtesy of Federico Sceriffo

Do you do other competitions or events in the United States?

I don’t do other competitions. I do events, so I work in different tracks. We built a Maserati Quattroporte as a ‘drift taxi’ and so that’s the car I use outside FD. To share my vision, passion, and craziness with everybody! And so, it’s a big Italian lady with four seats that roars like a Ferrari.

Drifting is expensive - very expensive - do you need a big team? 

Today - a professional drifting team at the highest level - it's a company. It's not about Thursday afternoon, “Hey, whats up? You free tomorrow?” If you want to win, it's almost a seven-on-seven. That's why you have two ways to come in with respect. You come from money or you are really living the dream.

You come from money, it is probably not a seven-on-seven, and it probably can be a thing that you start talking about on Thursday. Because you open a team, and you pay them a fixed salary twelve months a year to take care of your stuff, but you’re not living the dream then. You just paid your way in.

Me - coming from a small town like this - we are inside here from Milano where dreams and hopes sometimes are flushed down the sewage. I'm living the dream, and I am proud of it, but I have to do it seven-on-seven, for 15 hours per day, for 19 years. I don't go on holiday for 15 years. It's weird to think about, because I have the most expensive car in FD and I probably have the biggest ‘broke story’ of FD. I love it!

You have help, right?

Oh, I have a lot! It’s a family, because I can’t afford the company, so it was easier to put a family together. I put together a family that I support, and they are all very special to me, and I found a way to make them monetize inside the group. So, yeah, it's more than a team. It's a family of people that know I won’t do this forever, and they are pushing until I don’t want to do it, and then I guess they really have the feeling that I'm just gonna hand over stuff.

Will you bring on a protege’?

Yeah, yeah, yeah - Well, I have Simona, and Preston back in Georgia who is 19 and very talented. I think they can take care of - in 15 to 20 years - all this mess I created.

And, drivers?

Well, for me, you have to be multi-functional. It doesn't exist to be a good driver and you are just driving. Clean the floor. The newcomers come to me like, “What should I do, tune the ECU?” Mop the floor and show me what you got. Have a good attitude. Bravo!