Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo, Silverstone, 2020

Giovinazzi given formal warning over “potentially dangerous” driving

2020 British Grand Prix

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Antonio Giovinazzi has been given a formal warning over his driving in the first practice session today, which the stewards called “potentially dangerous”.

The Alfa Romeo driver was told he drove back to the pits too quickly following his spin during the session. He damaged his tyres during the spin, and while driving back the damage worsened, dropping debris around the circuit.

After speaking to Giovinazzi and reviewing video of the incident, the stewards gave him a warning.

“The stewards accepted that when the driver left the position where he had come to a stop at turn 13 his car shed debris due to his damaged tyres,” they noted.

“However, the stewards felt that the driver acted in a manner that was potentially dangerous to other drivers when he continued at speed and without due caution to the pit lane, shedding debris along the way.”

Practice had to be red-flagged so the debris could be cleared. The stewards said Giovinazzi’s driving “also contributed to the extended 12-minute suspension of the session.”

Stewards have the option of issuing drivers reprimands. These can lead to 10-place grid penalties if drivers collect three reprimands. However the warning is a different and relatively recent introduction to the rule book.

“In deciding the penalty, the stewards have compared this incident to other practice
incidents in the last few years and have elected to utilise the warning that is newly
available to them under the International Sporting Code.”

Giovinazzi was not given any points on his licence for the incident.

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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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8 comments on “Giovinazzi given formal warning over “potentially dangerous” driving”

  1. I can’t imagine what it felt like from the inside, but from the outside it looked like the car could literally break into pieces at that speed.

  2. What this just speaks volumes of is that he is very rough on machinery.
    Paid more attention to his pony tail than the car all the engineers have laboured to put together

    1. Let’s be honest, he shouldn’t be in F1. He was lucky to be in the best team in F2 while having an average at best teammate.

    1. Yes, I agree.

  3. Adam (@rocketpanda)
    31st July 2020, 19:39

    I’d be really surprised if he’s still in F1 next year.

  4. Im not too impressed by Giovinazzi to be honest, I would rather see Nico Hulkenber in that seat…and if RP replaces Perez for Vettel, then I would certainly love to see another Perez-Hulkenburg lineup.

    1. I’ve heard a few times now that one of the Alfa seats is reserved to Ferrari junior/associated drivers (even if not officially admitted as such), so if that’s true, one of the seats would either go to Shwartzman or Schumacher.

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