Feature
TEAM TALK: Getting to know MP Motorsport teammates Weug, Larsen and Ciconte
Every driver might be out on track fighting for themselves, but motorsport at its heart is a team sport. Sharing a garage alongside battling it out across the season, teammates can become not just your nearest rivals but also your newest friends.
We headed over to MP Motorsport to put that to the test, as title contender and Ferrari driver Maya Weug partners up with the two youngest drivers on the grid, Tommy Hilfiger’s Alba Larsen and Wella’s Joanne Ciconte. With plenty of stories to tell, let’s find out how well the trio have gotten on so far…
WHAT WERE YOUR FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF EACH OTHER?
Alba Larsen: “We knew each other before, so it was really nice to see that we were going to be teammates.”
Maya Weug: “We all met each other at Maranello.”
Joanne Ciconte: “Yeah, we met each other for the Ferrari Girls on Track programme (in 2023). Me and Alba were in the scouting camp for the Girls on Track programme and Maya was there at Maranello.”
Weug: “I was already part of the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy.”
Larsen: “We kept in contact for the past year and it was really nice to see that we were going to be teammates. I feel like we have the best…”
Ciconte: “Connection?”
Larsen: “Yeah, I feel like we have a really good team.”
Ciconte: “We all learn something from each other, we all get along and we’re all friends. It’s good to have competition and friendship.”
Larsen: “I feel like we can push each other.”
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TEAMMATES IN ONE WORD?
Weug: “Alba, stylish. And Joanne, not funny but more like playful. Entertaining?”
Larsen: “Maya is like the big sister.”
Ciconte: “Maya is independent. She’s strong and independent.”
Weug: (deadpans) “You’re calling me old!”
Ciconte: “No no, independence has nothing to do with age! It’s a very good trait to be independent.”
Larsen: “You’re very professional as well, but underneath you’re very funny.”
Ciconte: “Independent is like you’re strong, you can do things by yourself. Alba is… I don’t know how to describe her. I have so many things like funny, fun, friend, all these things. Alba is fun. You guys are both fun!”
Larsen: “I feel like we’re a funny team.”
MAYA, WHAT SURPRISED YOU MOST ABOUT YOUR TEAMMATES GIVEN THAT THEY’RE BOTH ROOKIES?
Weug: “I think Qualifying in Shanghai was pretty strong for both of them. I was quite happy because I asked on the radio. I knew I was P1, and I asked where Alba and Joanne were. When they said P3 and P6 I was like ‘damn!’. It’s been really good. They’ve shown the pace. We’re working well together and it’s good to push each other.”
ALBA AND JOANNE, YOU’RE THE YOUNGEST DRIVERS ON THE GRID. IS THAT SOMETHING YOU ENJOY, OR SOMETHING YOU WANT TO FORGET ABOUT?
Ciconte: “It’s neither a disadvantage nor an advantage. Being in Formula 1, it’s best being as young as possible, so coming up the ranks at a young age and experiencing different things at a young age benefits us a lot. When you’re in a field of girls who are a little bit older and have more experience, naturally that could be a bit of a disadvantage. It also benefits us from learning different references.”
Larsen: “Sometimes people can have an assumption about you. I feel like when I first started in F1 ACADEMY, maybe people thought ‘she’s too young and too inexperienced’, but then I proved them wrong and showed that I belong here. I think it’s not that much of an advantage and sometimes a disadvantage that we don’t have the experience. We learn quickly and we have fought for our places here.”
WHO IS THE FUNNIEST?
Weug: “Joanne is the crazy one in the team.”
Ciconte: “We’re all funny in our own way. I’m probably more wildly extroverted. Maya is just funny in how she’s perceived as professional but she’s very funny randomly.”
Larsen: “Without doing anything, she’s just funny.”
Ciconte: “She’s got a sense of humour.”
Weug: “That’s my dad’s sense of humour. It’s horrible!”
Larsen: “I feel like I’m funny but only in Danish. I have Danish humour but it’s hard to translate it.”
Ciconte: “Alba at times won’t even try to be funny, but the way she says things or interprets things is funny. We’re all funny in different ways.”
Larsen: “Me and Joanne, sometimes when I just look at her I cannot stop laughing.”
Weug: “I remember the first day of the sim was so bad. We were sitting there, the whole team was having lunch and there was a small dog. They started laughing and they were almost crying and I was just sitting there like ‘great, I’m going to have a fun year’.”
Ciconte: “There have been many times when me and Alba have got those consistent laughs and you just can’t stop. The moment just takes forever to stop.”
Larsen: “I feel like it’s going to be dangerous at some point but it’s good fun!”
WHO SPENDS THE MOST TIME WITH THEIR ENGINEER?
Larsen & Ciconte: “Maya!”
Weug: “Definitely. I text him in the week all about run plans or data or stuff, so I think definitely me.”
WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE MEMORY OF BEING TEAMMATES SO FAR?
Weug: “You should have come to Shanghai, to the centre.”
Ciconte: “Shanghai was fun.”
Larsen: “We always try to do stuff together but I can’t always go, so they’re always doing stuff. I feel like Oakberry is also a great memory.”
Ciconte: “We got Oakberry early in the morning.”
Weug: “Her mum brought Oakberry to the test in Jeddah for the whole team.”
Ciconte: “We can never hang out or have a photo of all of us three girls. Me and Alba will do something, or me and Maya are doing something.”
Weug: “It’s usually Alba who is too busy in life!”
Ciconte: “Too stylish mate!”
WHO’S GOT THE BEST LOOKING HELMET AND LIVERY?
Weug: “I think Alba’s helmet and car match really well. I like that it’s classy.”
Ciconte: “Maya is Ferrari so…”
Weug: “It’s always going to look good.”
Larsen: “Everybody looks good in red. I would say my helmet matches quite well with my car.”
Ciconte: “I really like the flag because in photos and pictures it looks like the flag is kind of in motion. I think all of our helmets match with the cars and it’s really nice.”
Weug: “Alba has the stylish one. I have the Ferrari red and blue. Joanne has the colourful one. That’s the word (to describe you)!”
Ciconte: “I’m not colourful, what are you talking about? I’m literally wearing black!”
Weug: “No, as a soul.”
Ciconte: “I’m colourful. You may as well call me beautiful at this point Maya!”
Weug: “That’s what Alba is for, that’s not me.”
WHO’S THE SMARTEST?
Ciconte: “Alba.”
Larsen: “Thank you!”
Ciconte: “Alba is just unintentionally smart. Like in the Kahoot, she just listens and prioritises reading everything. We all have to, but her memory with knowledge is better than mine. I’m probably not the smartest. I can be if I try, but…”
Weug: “You said it!”
Larsen: “In racing, all of Maya’s knowledge, experience and how you go in professionally into a race weekend — you’re smart in that way.”
Weug: “I’m sorry Joanne!”
Ciconte: “You guys never see me in a serious situation where I’m studying for an exam.”
Weug: “I can’t imagine you studying for school. “
Ciconte: “Trust me, I am smart! In school, I was smart. No one believes I’m smart, everyone just sees me as a fun person. No one sees the smart, focused side of me. It’s the Australian in me, what can I say.”
WHAT ARE YOUR TEAMMATES’ MOST ANNOYING HABITS?
Weug: (all thinking) That took long, you could have been much quicker (replying) like before!”
Ciconte: “The fact that Alba’s always busy.”
Larsen: “I can’t hang out with you guys, I’m too busy sometimes. I think you guys are a bit messy in the fridge.”
Ciconte: “Maya’s messy!”
Weug: “I just have a lot of stuff.”
Larsen: “Yeah and it’s a bit all over the place.”
Ciconte: “I’m not messy. You can think of a different one for me.”
Weug: “You’re loud.”
Larsen: “You're a bit loud sometimes. Most of the time it’s nice. Sometimes when we have to be serious, it’s annoying that I cannot stop laughing at you.”
(Back and forth on how they struggled to think of answers)
Weug: “So it’s only me being messy!”
Ciconte: “That’s not even rude, that’s something you can fix. I’m loud, it’s a bad habit I didn’t realise.”
Weug: “Alba is always late.”
WHO’S MOST LIKELY TO BE LATE TO A TEAM MEETING?
Larsen: “I wouldn’t say me but…”
Weug (directed to Ciconte): “You are as well, in Shanghai. First day at the race.”
Larsen: “I was late today but it was the traffic.”
Ciconte: “Maya's just very professional when it comes to these things. She’s there on the dot for everything.”
Weug: “I’m just Dutch.”
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM EACH OTHER?
Larsen: “We learn a lot from Maya.”
Ciconte: “Maya is like the big sister in the friend group. We learn a lot driving-wise, and she’s very mature so when we go out with her we pick up different traits from each other.”
Weug: “I think it’s nice that we have fun, you know? It’s not something we’ve learned but it helps with the performance, having fun with your teammates and not being annoyed at each other.”
Larsen: “We can have fun but also I learn a lot both from your data and how you go into a race weekend. You’re very professional. You write your notes and stuff like that.”
Ciconte: “As drivers, we have a lot of pressure and things to focus on. When we get our own time in the box we can have a chat. It’s good to unwind, have a talk and be friends.”
Weug: “I need to learn about how photogenic you are, both of you.”
Ciconte: “I’m not photogenic.”
Weug: “Come on! This is something I cannot learn but it’s fine.”
READ MORE: Her competitive mum and formidable World Champions: Aiva Anagnostiadis’ Racing Idols
WHO SPENDS THE MOST TIME IN THE SIMULATOR, AND WHO SPENDS THE MOST TIME IN THE GYM?
Larsen: “Maya spends the most time in the gym, definitely. I don’t know who for the sim.”
Ciconte: “I don’t even have a sim at home.”
Weug: “I spend quite a lot of time on the sim.”
Larsen: “I have one at home so I spend some time there. I’m not home that much.”
Ciconte: “I reckon Maya for both. I don’t know about Alba — I heard that you don’t use your sim!”
Larsen: “I use it, but I’m not home that much so I don’t have time to use it. I go to the gym but Maya definitely goes more.”
WHAT ARE YOUR TEAMMATES’ BEST QUALITIES?
Ciconte: “All of us are very pure, kind and fun.”
Weug: “And direct — we can be direct towards each other. I think that’s good.”
Larsen: “Honesty. Another good thing is that we can fight on the track but we can switch.”
Weug: “And we still respect each other.”
Ciconte: “I think we all have a lot of respect for each other as friends and teammates.”
Larsen: “We can be professional but we can also be very friendly.”
IF YOU HAD A RACE IN KARTING AGAINST EACH OTHER, WHO WOULD WIN?
Ciconte: “If it was rental karting, I’d push both of you off the track, easy! I never did any karting overseas, I just stayed in Australia. I was pretty good in Australia so I don’t know.”
Weug: “We haven’t raced against each other at all in karting so it’s a bit difficult to judge. We have to do it this year.”