Antonio Giovinazzi will take Pascal Wehrlein’s place at Sauber for the Chinese Grand Prix, Sauber has confirmed.
“For me the most important is that I can train intensively to ensure a 100% performance from my side as soon as possible,” said Wehrlein.
“I will then be well-prepared for my first complete Grand Prix weekend for the Sauber F1 Team. Hopefully this can be in Bahrain but, if not, then we will take the time it needs until Russia to make sure I am completely ready.”
With the next race in Bahrain just one week after the Chinese Grand Prix, Sauber say they hope to have Wehrlein back in the car “at the earliest possible opportunity – either the Bahrain Grand Prix or the Russian Grand Prix.”
Giovinazzi is the reserve driver for Sauber engine supplier Ferrari. He qualified 16th for his F1 debut when he took over Wehrlein’s car in Australia and finished the race 12th.
Team principal Monisha Kaltenborn described Giovinazzi’s performance as “very impressive” in Australia. “He showed his potential as well as what the car is capable of. The lap times were quite satisfying.”
While the Albert Park track was new to Giovinazzi, he has experience of the Shanghai International Circuit from his stint in Formula Pilota China, which he won in 2012.
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ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
3rd April 2017, 17:03
Great! I want to see more from him
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
3rd April 2017, 17:38
Me too. YES.
I hope sky learns to pronounce Antonio’s name. Romain Grosjean is still waiting sky!
Ronald
3rd April 2017, 20:12
I guess every none British driver is…
Rick (@)
3rd April 2017, 20:36
Well, even for someone like me who speaks a word or two Italian, I have to admit that this is probably one of the more difficult Italian names for non-Italian speakers. Having said that, it reminds me of this video I watched just a couple of days ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHnUA96wGcA
JMDan (@danmar)
3rd April 2017, 22:36
Maybe it’s because I’m francophone but his name gives me no problem. :-) I have noticed that many people have problems with names. Admittedly until you hear someone pronounce some names it’s impossible to know how to pronounce them. Anglos have difficulty with mine.
True story: I watched a video on YouTube in which the American YouTuber pronounced the city of Tucson (Arizona), Tuscan. I have heard it pronounced Tucson many times by non-Americans but I had never heard it pronounced Tuscan. Not even by a foreigner! :-)
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
3rd April 2017, 22:44
On a similar theme, here is 5 minutes of the WEC drivers (mostly mis)pronouncing each other’s names. It would not surprise me if we got a F1 version at some point in the next 12 months as part of Liberty’s social media campaign…
nase
4th April 2017, 9:32
@addvariety
I think it’s one of the easier Italian names. They could just pronounce him as “Joe V. Nutsy”, and that’d be close enough.
Joao (@johnmilk)
4th April 2017, 8:57
I would like to hear you guys pronounce mine. You all should be glad my talent was over-looked and I didn’t make it to F1
Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
4th April 2017, 17:06
As they can’t even pronounce Vettel correctly (“Fettle”) I’m not sure there is much hope for Giovinazzi!
@peartree
nase
4th April 2017, 17:53
In fact, that is the correct pronunciation.
(Or rather: The closest a native speaker of English can get to the correct pronunciation without investing a crazy amount of effort to get rid of their accent, which is already a tall order for someone who needs to use a new language in their everyday life. For someone who only needs to recognisably pronounce foreign names of sportsmen who speak a dozen different languages, this is definitely asking too much.)
nase
4th April 2017, 17:54
@mike-dee
BNK
3rd April 2017, 17:04
An injured Wehrlein is better than a fit Erricson. Giovinazzi to replace Erricson full time please!
Pete (@repete86)
3rd April 2017, 19:21
Their lap times from testing and Australia suggest otherwise.
Manox (@marussi)
3rd April 2017, 19:22
Why all the hate for Marcus? he has improved alot since he started in 2014.
Pete (@repete86)
3rd April 2017, 19:38
I agree entirely. At the start of 2014 he was probably the worst driver on the grid IMO. He’s improved dramatically. Not a great, but he’s definitely an F1 driver and good enough to be in the sport.
Rick (@)
3rd April 2017, 20:39
Agreed as well. I think Ericsson is quite a good driver these days. Definitely not someone who’ll be challenging Hamilton or Alonso for the title of best driver on the grid, but better than a couple of others.
Joao (@johnmilk)
4th April 2017, 9:08
It seems to be quite common nowadays that comment, “He improved a lot since he started”. And while that may be be true he still in the bottom 3. And considering the talent outside F1, it does seem to be a waste of a seat.
Lets see how he does with these new regs, we only saw one race and we cannot take much out of it. If he gets beaten in China by Giovanazzi, and by Wherlein when he returns, that will be very bad news for Ericsson. Unless he pays for another year.
Strontium (@strontium)
3rd April 2017, 17:10
Obviously I’m happy for Giovinazzi, but how long before we start getting worried about Wehrlein?
ECWDanSelby (@ecwdanselby)
3rd April 2017, 17:28
The moment he announced he’d step down for Melbourne was where you should have started worrying :)
If Gio has another strong outing, I can’t see Wehrlein coming back.
Ashwin (@redbullf1)
3rd April 2017, 18:21
I highly doubt that would be the case. Based on the contract drivers are to be given a minimum of 14 races in a calendar unless medically there is a problem or some form of ban is in effect. We might see Gio go and come back somewhere towards the end if the team is not happy with Wehrlein’s performance.
Rick (@)
3rd April 2017, 20:48
@redbullf1 Haha, like that says anything for Sauber, I mean… for Monisha Kaltenborn. Giedo van der Garde had a valid racing contract for the whole 2015 season, which was acknowledged by the Australian court and then by an international court. And Sauber finally ended up being paid millions which almost led to their bankruptcy. Who got his seat? Current driver Marcus Ericsson. Well deserved by now, but two years ago it was all about the money and Ms. Kaltenborn’s decision to choose a driver with double the sponsorship money over one that has already signed a contract had backfired badly, so in the end all they got out of it was another good racing driver (probably better than Van der Garde) and a bad reputation.
Ashwin (@redbullf1)
3rd April 2017, 21:28
At first I didn’t think this would be true but research proved otherwise. @addvariety
Oh boy then Wehrlein should start getting worried, it will be either his race seat or his back.
Or maybe he should’nt be cause be has a good backing from Mercedes.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
3rd April 2017, 22:49
Where does it say drivers must have X races (except in driver-team contracts)? As far as I knew, the current contract rules are simply that teams aren’t allowed to break driver contracts, with the copy being lodged at the CRB taking preference in a version dispute. Before that, the rule was that X drivers were allowed in the season (depending on the year, either X drivers total or X drivers in one seat and Y drivers in the other).
For that matter, performance clauses can be ambiguous, the CRB has historically not been strict about qualitative clauses of the kind, and it’s hard to meet a quantitative performance clause if injured.
montreal95 (@montreal95)
3rd April 2017, 21:31
@ecwdanselby No Wehrlein, no money from Merc. I doubt Sauber is rich enough for that
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
3rd April 2017, 22:49
They are if Antonio’s promotion means a bigger discount on their Ferrari engine…
Ashwin (@redbullf1)
3rd April 2017, 17:15
Great news for me since I’d like to see more of what Giovinazzi is capable of.
On the other I wonder to what extent Wehrlein has hurt himself in the ROC crash. Hope he can recover fully before Bahrain.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
3rd April 2017, 21:44
@redbullf1 it’s probably more down to physical preparation than something seriously wrong with him. After all, he did a whole day at Melbourne before stepping down.
The only difference is that now Giovanazzi will have a proper preparation for the weekend, instead of just FP3. Which is good from Pascal, to give up his seat as soon as possible so everyone is fully aware of the situation as early as possible.
Ashwin (@redbullf1)
3rd April 2017, 22:38
Yes truly a good decision from Wehrlein. @fer-no65
And I got to say he is truly selfless. Rather than wait it out and attend the practice sessions to see where he is in regards to his fitness, he allowed Giovanazzi to go in early so that both his team and the driver can get the maximum out of the weekend.
Good character !
BasCB (@bascb)
4th April 2017, 8:00
Agree with that @redbullf1, @fer-no65. Recovering from the crash at ROC probably put his training on hold for a long time. Catching up has probably proven to be harder than he had expected before Melbourne. Good that Wehrlein is realistic about it.
And good that Giovanazzi now gets a solid chance to show his mettle. I felt he deserved a shot after last season of GP2, and that one race so far, has shown that he belongs in the F1 paddock
shadow13 (@shadow13)
3rd April 2017, 17:16
There has to be something more to this. It seems very strange for Wehrlein to be fine enough that he drove in practice for Melbourne but then suddenly pulled out of the race and now isn’t fit 2 weeks later. Surely something that is bad enough medically to keep him racing this weekend would have been very obvious before Australia?
kpcart
3rd April 2017, 17:36
Oh please. Practise is not a full race. The cars are now pulling 6g in turns, you need to be in top fitness! Werhlein isn’t because he wasnt training luke the other drivers were during his recovery time. Just read the news articles.
Gabriel (@rethla)
3rd April 2017, 18:13
@kpcart The news said he was fine at pre season testing and he would be back to Australia and he would gonna be back to China… Yeh just read the news articles.
Joao (@johnmilk)
3rd April 2017, 18:29
@rethla it sounds like they Wehrlein
Hamilz0rs
3rd April 2017, 18:55
Ahahahahah
ForzaRogo (@forzarogo)
3rd April 2017, 19:23
COTD right here Keith.
Dan
3rd April 2017, 19:27
Stunning @johnmilk, absolutely stunning
Joao (@johnmilk)
4th April 2017, 9:03
thank you gentleman, I’m people’s COTD, that is good enough for me
F1Supremo
4th April 2017, 10:28
Ba dum tss…..clap clap clap…
Pete (@repete86)
3rd April 2017, 19:24
He never did a run longer than a few laps during testing largely because of fitness and/or the injury. The article does not say that he was fine for any of that, just that he participated.
Patrick (@paeschli)
3rd April 2017, 17:51
Gotta agree. I think he has some kind of permanent injury.
Joao (@johnmilk)
3rd April 2017, 18:30
Wow that escalated quickly
Patrick (@paeschli)
3rd April 2017, 21:46
@johnmilk
Well it would make sense, no?
It’s hard to believe that Giovanazzi managed to do two days of pre-season testing and soon to be two race weekends without any special ‘preparation’ for the 2017 season while Wehrlein who supposedly spent to whole winter preparing for these new cars isn’t ‘fit enough’.
SpaFrancorchamps (@spafrancorchamps)
3rd April 2017, 17:54
I find it strange too. Especially since we’ve seen Alonso drive with a broken rib last year, and we see MotoGP drivers take it on the weekend after a surgery. This crash was in January. Maybe there is more to it, maybe not. But I do find it odd.
Wesley (@)
3rd April 2017, 21:14
How dare you compare Alonso the samurai racing warrior to mere mortals! ;)
shadow13 (@shadow13)
3rd April 2017, 18:29
Yeah I wonder whether the injury is something that hasn’t been released – like eye injury or something and they were hopeful it wouldn’t impact his driving but then it did? Obviously it’s just wild speculation at this point but it does seem strange for them to be so unsure. If its simply fitness wouldn’t it have been obvious weeks before Melbourne that he wouldn’t be able to drive. I can’t see Sauber taking the risk of letting him do practice if it was very likely he wouldn’t be able to compete in the race. It’s hardly an ideal scenario for Sauber to let a rookie jump into the car for the race with little experience – albeit he performed exceptionally well.
Craig
4th April 2017, 8:21
I’m currently thinking it’s concussion, which can be pretty nasty from what I’ve read (confusion, dizziness, lose of balance etc) but not apparent to other people.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
3rd April 2017, 23:06
It’ll be the “training deficit”. Technically capable of racing but not able to do it justice (and perhaps, at least in Australia, unable to sustain the entire race in the first place)?
Neiana (@neiana)
4th April 2017, 0:11
Hesitant to bring it up, given that I haven’t really seen it elsewhere, but last season Dale Earnhardt Jr. took a significant chunk of the season off due to a concussion…
@faulty
4th April 2017, 1:42
I think it’s not Pascal’s decision but rather it’s Mercedes taking care of one of their guys.
Not fighting for points or anything so they’d rather have him fit for their purposes, building his pace and confidence.
HUHHII (@huhhii)
3rd April 2017, 17:24
Great for Giovinazzi, can’t wait to see him drive again. But also hoping for fast recovery to Wehrlein – I wish he’d take Ericsson’s seat when he is capable of driving the Grand Prix weekend.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
3rd April 2017, 17:44
@huhhii
Many people seem to rate Wherlein higher than Ericsson. But I don’t think he’s any better. IMO, it has been Ericsson who has had quite a few more stand out races. Ericsson certainly was poor when he started his F1 career but last season, I think he was pretty good. Extremely good occasionally too. I don’t think Wherlein had any races that looked as impressive as Ericsson’s drive in Mexico. Neither of them are that consistent and they both make mistakes every now and then but I think Ericsson overall looks to be a little stronger. Although back in 2014 and early 2015, I thought Ericsson was pretty much the worst driver on the grid. I now don’t think that at all now and he has improved a lot.
I didn’t quite get the hype about Giovinazzi’s recent race though. It’s not like he out qualified Ericsson and Ericsson couldn’t exactly do much in the race to prove how good his team mate was against him as Magnussen took him out and caused damage.
HUHHII (@huhhii)
3rd April 2017, 17:50
@thegianthogweed I agree with you that Ericsson has improved from his Caterham days, but still think there is more potential in Wehrlein. He will improve when he gains more experience.
“I don’t think Wherlein had any races that looked as impressive as Ericsson’s drive in Mexico.” While it’s true Ericsson got everything out of his car and then some in Mexico, I still rate Wehrlein’s effort in Austria higher. Scoring a point in Manor in a dry race was masterful driving.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
3rd April 2017, 18:33
@huhhii
I guess it is fair enough that we have different opinions but I’ll describe my view comparing those 2 races.
I do admit that Wherlein had an incredible qualifying session. But to me, that was the most impressive thing about his race weekend. On race day, he parked his car in the wrong grid slot. He then reversed seconds before the lights went out to get back where he should be. They actually waited for him to do this and it seemed a little surprising that he got away with it. Considering drivers can get penalties for parking ever so slightly off their grid slot, it makes me wonder how he got away with parking 2 places further up and then reversing back.
Anyway, I admit he had a very solid race after that, but the only reason he got a point was because of Vettel and Perez retiring. Perez was having issues with his brakes on the final lap when he was comfortably in 8th place (ahead of Wherlein by well over 20 seconds). Wherlien was then in 11th. Perez’s brakes then failed on the last lap and he crashed out. Basically, Wherlein would have been 12th or lower if it wasn’t for all the problems with the other cars. It was still obviously a good drive as it was pretty much the slowest car out there and he won’t have finished much lower than he started. But this to me is one thing that makes Ericsson’t race more impressive. He finished well above his starting position and there was only one retirement. Wherlien got a point, which is obviously what matters and it was a big achievement, but in my view, it was pretty lucky as there were 5 drivers that retired that will have made that position much harder if they were in the race.
Now, With Ericsson’s drive in Mexico, I think that was quite a bit more impressive. He actually got involved in a collision with Wherlein on the 1st lap. This was actually Wherlein’s fault but he paid for it and ended up retiring. Ericsson suffered a fair bit of damage and then fell right to the back, did a slow lap and had to pit. He then did 69 laps on the same set of tyres and finished 11th. And what is impressive is that no other cars retired to help him there. But he unfortunately didn’t get points and that was what mattered.
I think Wherlien can improve but I’m hoping that they will both stay in F1. They will probably be reasonably matched team mates.
WheelToWheel (@lolzerbob)
3rd April 2017, 19:08
@thegianthogweed
Well Ericsson was actually very lucky with the first lap incident which made him pit and due to low deg that basically promoted him to eleventh, and I know he did very well but he was probably the more lucky of the two IMO. But it says a lot about Ericsson’s career that in his three years in the sport there’s only one race his fans go on about. I think he’s quite underrated too, but he still probably isn’t good enough for F1, sometimes like the end of last season he goes on a good run but his run of crashing pretty much everytime when it is wet shows to me he lacks the raw talent of others.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
3rd April 2017, 19:38
@lolzerbob
I’m not quite sure how much the strategy can have helped him. His car was slightly damaged the whole way through the race. And as I said, he had to do the rest of the first lap really slowly. And he then had a 12+ second pit stop and then completed the race with several parts of the car missing. I somehow don’t think he would have done any worse if he did his planned strategy. I don’t think it will have made a great deal of difference as he lost a huge amount of time on the first lap.
I agree he has crashed in the wet, but if I compare him to Wherlein, Wherlein has also done the same. I can’t remember where this was, but there was a wet qualifying session when Wherlein used too much power down the straight and then slipped and crashed. Then I think there was another practice session where he crashed also. But I must agree that Ericsson isn’t good in the wet.
anon
3rd April 2017, 20:58
@thegianthogweed, with regards to Wehrlein reversing on the grid, there is no regulation stating that a driver cannot do that.
There is also a historical precedent for not taking any action against Wehrlein. Nigel Mansell once reversed his car on the grid (whilst driving for Lotus), and indeed later joked that he was the only driver who ever started a race in reverse gear – like Wehrlein, no action was ever taken against Mansell for reversing on the grid.
anon
3rd April 2017, 18:33
@thegianthogweed, I suppose that part of the attention would have been the fact that it was such an unexpected change, but to be fair Giovinazzi didn’t face the easiest of circumstances.
As far as I am aware, he has no experience of the Melbourne circuit whatsoever, so he would have only had the final practise session to learn about the circuit by the time that he started taking part in qualifying. In that respect, even just being reasonably close to Ericsson in the circumstances was unexpected.
montreal95 (@montreal95)
3rd April 2017, 21:34
@huhhii Ericsson’s sponsors basically own the team, so your suggestion is unrealistic. I too wish him gone and have Wehrlein go up against Giovinazzi but it won’t happen.
HUHHII (@huhhii)
3rd April 2017, 21:38
@montreal95 Well, nobody expected Bottas to race at Mercedes this year. And only a very small minority thought Ferrari stands a chance against Merc before the winter testing began. There is always hope.
montreal95 (@montreal95)
4th April 2017, 8:34
@huhhii There’s always hope but this is far longer odds than the cases you’ve mentioned. It basically requires Ericsson to fire himself from the team. Nobody ever does that except in unrealistic movies.
Eoin (@eoin16)
3rd April 2017, 17:36
So this means Gio is not eligible to drive for Ferrari in the in season tests this season as a young driver which was the original plan for him this year. Who is going to take his place?
sam3110 (@sam3110)
3rd April 2017, 17:46
Charles Leclerc will replace Antonio as Young Driver for Ferrari
Eoin (@eoin16)
3rd April 2017, 20:47
@sam3110 ah yes, silly me I totally forgot about him. Really good news for Ferrari…their reserve driver gets actual racing experience in F1 and another one of their academy drivers will get more time than planned in the F1 car.
Sumedh
4th April 2017, 4:26
Yep, really good news for Ferrari. And all of this good news is happening without them doing anything? I really doubt it. I am sure there is somewhere a discount being given to Sauber for this as well.
And add to this cocktail the fact that Sauber has initiated contact with Honda for 2018 who may also want to put their own driver in place there.
Not sure how Sauber is gonna fit 4 drivers – all with some backing – into 2 seats. Ericsson pays Sauber; Mercedes pays Sauber to keep Pascal, Ferrari pays Sauber to keep Antonio, Honda may pay Sauber to keep one of theirs.
*pay doesn’t mean direct payment. Could be discounts for engines and other things.
Ed Marques (@edmarques)
3rd April 2017, 18:20
I think this situation is a bit odd.
Hope there’s nothing more to it than the fitness issue.
Ashwin (@redbullf1)
3rd April 2017, 18:24
On a side note, Gio almost looks like young Alonso in the first picture.
Tayyib
3rd April 2017, 18:27
This really is an odd story. If he’s out again then who cleared him and was it wrong to clear him. Or is it like a football player who is still mentally not prepared to sprint on a recently injured hamstring or afraid to go into a tackle after a broken leg. Whatever it is another chance for Giovanazzi, surely the last thing you want to do is give a 3rd driver more chances to take your drive. Hopefully as a Ferrari fan Gio does well again and continues to grow into F1
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
3rd April 2017, 23:11
I think it is the difference between being having no injury extensive enough to outright bar competition, and being sufficiently injury-free to compete to the standard Sauber needs – especially if a performance-related clause is involved.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
3rd April 2017, 18:29
Career ending injury this?
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
3rd April 2017, 23:32
It could turn out to become a career ending reluctance to drive….
Michal (@michal2009b)
3rd April 2017, 18:34
Very happy with Giovinazzi but the Wehrlein situation is quite odd. He was cleared to compete, he’s done many laps in testing, there were no issues reported and he’s being replaced again. I know he was being named princess in the paddock so is it the issue in this category? I was sceptical at first but now it looks just strange. Don’t know what to think.
Pete (@repete86)
3rd April 2017, 19:30
He actually didn’t do that many laps in testing. His longest stings were only a few laps and he never did a full day (they split all of his days with Ericsson).
FormulaLes (@formulales)
3rd April 2017, 21:54
Is Wehrlein actually injured? Or is Giovinazzi in the seat, simply because Ferrari are paying Sauber more than Mercedes were paying to have Wehrlein in the seat? I have no doubt that Wehrlein was injured after the ROC crash, but now I am leaning towards the continuation of the injury being a bit of a cover story.
MacLeod (@macleod)
4th April 2017, 8:03
He was injured but he injured his back which is one of the worst injury to have as an driver the constant ponding of the lower back is why he can’t drive for very long stints. And worst the injury nevers heals 100% it ‘s always coming back i know i had this injury so i don’t race anymore for real.
Pinkpanther
6th April 2017, 13:13
Conspiracy theory: Ferrari needs a new driver for 2018 after Kimi.
Marchionne being very Italian focussed wants Giovinazzi to follow, so he’s letting Sauber do the work of giving Giovinazzi test races.
Wehrlein’s accident is but a convenient excuse.
Sam Baker (@sambaker488)
4th April 2017, 12:23
C’mon Sauber, just replace Ericsson with Giovinazzi
Corey (@dragon86)
4th April 2017, 13:26
So at what point does Giovinazzi get to pick his own number? I’m under the assumption that 36 was a Sauber test driver number. Much like the 47, Vandoorne raced with last year.