Giovinazzi to race in Australia for Sauber

"With Sauber’s Pascal Wehrlein pulling out of the Australian weekend due to fitness concerns, Saturday saw Ferrari test and reserve driver Antonio Giovinazzi called on at very late notice to stand in for the German, a role he also recently performed in the first pre-season test. "

Good luck to the Italian Ferrari #3 driver.

Robb

 

Big question mark on the future of Wehrlein in F1, IMO.

I don't think he will stay on Mercedes payroll beyond this year.

 

Agree

 

I hope Giovinazzi keeps the seat !!

We could do with an Italian in F1, and the Sauber is Ferrari-powered too.

 

totally agree a near Q2 for virtually getting no seat time shows a lot. I heard Monisha at Sauber post quali say Pascal doesn't have to worry, bad move.

 

+1

 

That kid is quick

 

Yeh he is quick another graduate from Eurasia Motorsports,as was Ricciardo,i think one of them will eventually drive for Ferrari.

 

Great performance yesterday with little seat time. Great to see an Italian back in the sport.

Hopefully he has a good clean race today

 

Haas should replace MAG with him.

 

Why did he pull out? Was he the once crashed at the ROC late last year?

 

Yeap.

 

Yes definitely. Great guy, great attitude, and after only a few laps in practice he qualified on par with this teammate. Looked set to beat him in Q too but made a mistake (which is completely allowed IMO given the circumstances).

Wehrlein giving up the seat because he doesn't feel fit-ready yet is a huge question mark IMO. Get in and drive till you drop IMO, all eyes on him because IMO last year he didn't do enough.

 

+1

 

That occurred to me as well.

 

Agreed

 

Absolutely. Let him mature for a year or maybe 2 there then put him alongside Vettel when Kimi retires.

 

Any news if he will be racing in china?

Robb

 

Would love to..never liked Pascal...

 

MARCH 27, 2017

Giovinazzi to wear Ferrari red in China



Antonio Giovinazzi says he will be back in red gear when he returns to the F1 paddock in two weeks.

Ferrari's new reserve driver got a shock call-up to the race grid in Australia, when Sauber's Mercedes-backed main driver Pascal Wehrlein pulled out with apparent fitness concerns.

Giovinazzi, a standout in GP2 last year, was widely hailed for his performance.

"It was a perfect weekend because an Italian driver was back in F1 and Ferrari returned to winning," he told the Italian broadcaster Sky in Melbourne.

Giovinazzi, 23, admitted that although Wehrlein pulled out due to a lack of training, he too suffered with fitness issues in Australia.

"Physically it was tough," he said, "especially my neck in the closing laps. It takes practice because cornering in F1 is completely different.

"In two weeks I will be in China dressed in red. Then we'll see."

Indeed, German Wehrlein has said he is determined to be fully fit for Shanghai, even if there are rumours political influences could see Giovinazzi back in the Sauber soon.

"Antonio has a good future," A Ferrari insider is quoted by Speed Week.

"His talent is obvious -- everyone at Ferrari and Sauber can see it. Now we have to observe whether Wehrlein is fit for China and Bahrain. If not, Giovinazzi is there.

"And then it's clear -- if Kimi Raikkonen is not interested in 2018 or Ferrari wants to invest in youth, then Antonio will take his place," the insider added.

 

Sauber "very surprised" by Giovinazzi F1 debut performance

Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn says the team was “very surprised” with the quality of last-minute debutant Antonio Giovinazzi’s performance in the Australian Grand Prix.

The Italian driver was drafted in by Sauber on Saturday morning after Pascal Wehrlein reported fitness concerns following Friday’s practice sessions.

Ferrari third driver Giovinazzi, who stood in for Wehrlein at Sauber for the first Barcelona test, qualified 16th and finished his first F1 race in 12th.

Kaltenborn said Sauber did not set Giovinazzi expectations beyond ensuring he “did not to make mistakes and hung in during the race”.

“It definitely surprised us because it’s his first race,” she told Motorsport.com.

“Yes, he’s been testing, done things like the Pirelli test [for Ferrari], but that’s not the kind of testing that other people have been doing. It’s not like this level of motorsport, so it was very impressive.

He’s had one free practice, one hour, and did a very good qualifying and the race was not an easy one because he had flat-spotted his tyres and the car was not easy to drive.

“He showed the potential the car has despite all these difficulties.”

Wehrlein’s withdrawal raised the issue that Sauber does not have an official reserve driver.

Kaltenborn said Giovinazzi would effectively hold that role, because the team has “an arrangement with Ferrari which allows us to react in that situation”.

“This is fine for us,” she said. “Our focus is rather now that Pascal is fit, that our regular driver comes in.

“We have covered ourselves with the third driver situation and there is nothing else we need to do now.”

source: https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/s...rmance-887775/