Giovinazzi ‘took it easy’ when track was wettest

2017 F1 season

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Antonio Giovinazzi said he drove with some margin in hand when the track was wet during today’s test to avoid emulating Lance Stroll’s crash.

The Ferrari reserve driver completed his test for Sauber today as a substitute for the injured Pascal Wehrlein. He said he took care building up to exploring the limit when the track was wet today.

“A crash can happen so especially with this car, with a lot of grip and a lot different, but yeah I take it easy,” he said. “Especially this morning when it was a wetter condition.”

Testing day four in pictures
“But then a driver is always in the limit, I need to see what is the limit so I was quite confident.”

Giovinazzi admitted he wasn’t sure whether he had tackled the rapid turns three and nine flat-out when he did a qualifying simulation as the track dried out. While the rookie finished the test without crashing, he did own up to a lock-up at one point. “Everything is new for me so also to find the limit you need to lock sometimes and this I think is what happened,” he said.

The 23-year-old said he’d had a “positive four days” at Sauber. “Also to be here and watch the other drivers was a good experience.”

“I did quite a lot of laps in the wet, intermediate, slick again. Then in the afternoon we repeat again the programme but I think it was really important for me to get confidence with the car in different conditions.”

“I’m really happy with the programme we did, with the team and everything, a really good sensation.”

Giovinazzi may have an opportunity to return if Wehrlein is unable to drive for the team next week. However he does not know when that decision will be taken.

“They decide,” he said. “I’m a Ferrari driver so I’m waiting what Sauber say and what Ferrari say.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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9 comments on “Giovinazzi ‘took it easy’ when track was wettest”

  1. Should be given the Willams drive over Stroll, im fed up with the excuses this guy managed fine in a Sauber

  2. This Guy deserves a chance in a decent team.

  3. A part of me feels that both Giovinazzi and Gasly should be full time drivers on the grid next year but hopefully Ferrari maximises Gio’s opportunities because he truly has the goods. He proved in GP2 that he’s a very quick and very safe pair of hands to have in the car. If he’s not on the grid full time next year, something is seriously wrong. Same thing goes with Gasly

  4. Yes (@come-on-kubica)
    2nd March 2017, 21:12

    Should be on the grid already. Fantastic in GP2 last season. He’s still rough around the edges and has some development needed but the raw talent is there. Far more deserving than some drivers on the grid for a drive.

  5. Sauber signed Pascal so I don’t think Giovinazzi is going to do more than a couple more outings on the Sauber. If Sauber can strike a deal with Mercedes for 2018 which is their plan, Giovinazzi is going to have to wait for a seat at Haas, which is unlikely to happen. Another alternative would be a new team or a seat at which midfield team ends up losing Merc engines for Sauber (basically in the eventuality SFI folds), for that to happen we would need either a new manufacturer or Honda to supply more teams. Grim future.

    1. Hopefully the grid will expand to 11 or 12 teams again? Maybe even 13? Ross Brawn mentioned that he”d like to see this, 20 is not enough.

  6. I have long thought that he was ready and talented enough for an F1 seat. The mature and sensible attitude he displays on the track and here – “I’m a Ferrari driver so I’m waiting what Sauber say and what Ferrari say” – will do him well in any team.

  7. Good for him! I’d love to see what he could do in F1. He was the exciting revelation of the 2016 GP2 championship!

  8. WilliamB (@william-brierty)
    3rd March 2017, 21:52

    Given that Massa is almost certain to finally retire at the end of this year – a seat most likely to be filled by either Grosjean or Wehrlein – that opens up a seat at either Haas or Sauber for a driver in the Ferrari pool – who oddly unlike either Red Bull or Mercedes have no real history of using customer teams as a stepping stone for it’s junior signings.

    I can’t help thinking that as an actual member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, and you could argue, having achieved so much so young, that a marginally better junior pedigree would give Charles Leclerc precedence. But it all rests on Leclerc’s ability to pull a Giovinazzi-esque season out of bag, being another GP2 rookie driving with PREMA.

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