Long-time Mercedes driver Marciello had been set to join Lamborghini and drive for the Iron Lynx team, which next year will debut the new SC63 LMDh in both the World Endurance Championship and the IMSA SportsCar Championship.
Now, Autosport sources have revealed, BMW has come in with a deal to lure him to race its M Hybrid V8 LMDh, which will compete in the WEC for the first time next year with WRT alongside a continued IMSA campaign undertaken by the Rahal team.
Marciello, 28, is believed to be one of the two drivers that Lamborghini talked about having in place to complete a six-strong LMDh line-up on the launch of the SC63 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed earlier this month.
Giorgio Sanna, boss of Lamborghini’s Squadra Corse motorsport department, said: “They are signed, but we will not communicate until the end of the season.”
He would only confirm that the additions to the squad would be new to Lamborghini and not drivers promoted from the GT3 ranks like Mirko Bortolotti and Andrea Caldarelli.
The Italians were the first drivers named by Lamborghini for the LMDh programme and have subsequently been joined by Romain Grosjean and Daniil Kyvat.
The likelihood is that Swiss-Italian Marciello has already signed a contract with Lamborghini for 2024, but that get-out clauses could allow BMW to steal him away, which looks increasingly likely to happen.
BMW has remained coy about if how it will expand its LMDh driver squad for 2024 when the M Hybrid V8 comes on stream in the WEC.
The German manufacturer is still evaluating whether it needs to bring in new drivers to bolster its 21-strong factory roster for the new season, BMW M Motorsport boss Andreas Roos stated earlier this month.
Source: Autosport