Ferrari junior Giovinazzi gets Sauber chance in Russia

Ferrari junior Giovinazzi gets Sauber chance in Russia

Joas van Wingerden

Monday 24 September 2018 16:05

Antonio Giovinazzi will get a chance to impress Sauber at the Russian Grand Prix as he takes over duties in FP1 from Marcus Ericsson in Sochi. Ferrari junior Giovinazzi is reportedly favourite to partner Kimi Raikkonen at Sauber next year, after the team's work with Charles Leclerc.

After a fine rookie campaign, Leclerc will make the step up to Ferrari next year to partner Sebastian Vettel, with Raikkonen taking the Monegasque's sense.

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Giovinazzi has a deal with the Scuderia until 2021, so has plenty of time to make it into F1, although his hopes of stepping up to the Scuderia will depend on his ability to prove his worth on the grid.

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The Italian raced in Australia and China for Sauber last year after Pascal Wehrlein was forced to sit out the opening two rounds of the season due to a back injury, finishing 12th in Melbourne and failing to finish in Shanghai.

Giovinazzi was runner-up to Pierre Gasly in GP2 in 2016 and has driven both Sauber and Ferrari's 2018 cars in testing this year, lapping the Hungaroring in a quicker time than Sebastian Vettel had managed in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix just a few days earlier in July.

MORE: 'Leclerc will beat Vettel right away'