Factory Focus: Andrea Caldarelli

Of the Lamborghini LMDh factory driver roster, Andrea Caldarelli has seen it all.

From a single seater background on the career ladder towards Formula One, to a life in Japan before making the return to his native Italy, competing in some of the biggest GT races with the Sant’Agata Bolognese firm.

Since his transition to sportscar racing, Caldarelli has been a key member of Lamborghini’s official drivers and played a crucial role in the development of the SC63 prototype which he races in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship in North America.

Now residing in Monaco, Caldarelli is a big golf lover – but then, most of our factory drivers are! – but his biggest passion remains extracting the absolute maximum out of his on – and off – track performance.

A four-time GT World Challenge champion (Europe in 2017 with Grasser, 2019 with FFF Racing and America in 2021 and 2022 with K-PAX Racing), he is an important asset with Squadra Corse.

Alongside Romain Grosjean and Matteo Cairoli, Caldarelli finished seventh in the SC63’s maiden outing on US soil, in the 12 Hours of Sebring in March and showed great promise in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen in June.

But let’s get to know Caldarelli a little bit more, shall we?

Describe your journey with Lamborghini Squadra Corse so far?
It started all the way back at the end of 2016, that’s when I had the first contact with Lamborghini and when I signed my first contract. I started of course with the GT3 and there was a plan to go to Le Mans, that was the initial plan, with any kind of category. But that was the general target, and mine also. We knew that it was going to happen at some point, so it’s all been building towards what we have now.

What excites you the most about the SC63 and the LMDh project?
I’ve seen the car being born and have been through the development process and to see it being brought to the track after all of this time is kind of like seeing your little creature. That’s the most exciting part, seeing everything come together on track and playing such a big part in the journey so far.

What is the bond like with your team-mates?
It’s very good, despite only meeting Matteo for the first time properly in December 2023 [when he was announced]. With Romain, we have spent a bit more time together before the season, but the bond is really nice, we have fun, we eat together. But we have a busy life all of us, so we don’t see each other so much away from the track, but we get along really well.

What is the worst rental car you ever had?
I can’t mention the brand, but it was a very, very small car. I had to have it for like 10 days or something because I had races in Germany back-to-back and I had loads of luggage, which I needed to have in the passenger seat!

What are your hobbies away from the racetrack?
I’m really into golf and spend a lot of my time playing with friends on the golf course. I’ve done it for a few years, and it allows me to relax properly away from the track.

You have three songs: one that you know by heart, one you use for motivation and one that is your guilty pleasure. What songs are they?
I can’t really say the one I know by heart because they are not very clean songs!

For motivation, there’s a song written by a Nascar mechanic called “life in the pits”, that’s good!

And then for my guilty pleasure, basically anything by Justin Timberlake and there’s one called “selfish”, but you can ask my wife for the exact song!