Ferrari reserve driver Antonio Giovinazzi will participate in two training sessions for Haas this year.
Giovinazzi will replace Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher respectively in the opening ceremonies of the Italian and US Grands Prix, giving him his first experience of the new generation of Formula One racing cars.
The move comes at a time of growing uncertainty about Schumacher’s future with the team. Schumacher, son of seven-time world champion Michael, is in the final year of his contract and, despite eventually scoring Formula One points in England and Austria, has handed the team costly repair bills. poor with a string of costly accidents this year.
Giovinazzi, who has played for Alfa Romeo for three seasons, seems like the most obvious candidate to replace him if Haas wants to go in a different direction. While Haas and Ferrari have a close technical partnership, the American team has always maintained a degree of independence when it comes to selecting its drivers.
Team boss Guenther Steiner said Giovinazzi will help Haas assess where the car is currently.
“Ferrari would love to give Antonio time in his current Formula 1 car during a race weekend and we would be happy to assist,” said Steiner. “We were in a similar situation in 2017 with Antonio and Ferrari – the obvious difference between then and now is the experience he will have from competing in the previous three seasons in Formula One. and the feedback he will be able to give us in Italy and the US.”
Haas has introduced an upgrade in Hungary, which is expected to roll out in both cars for the three-race title that begins with the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend.
In this year’s driver market, Daniel Ricciardo is a long shot to race at Haas next year. ESPN understands Steiner was called an eight-time race winner before the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Now it looks like Ricciardo is towards an early exit from McLaren but Alpine seems the most logical destination for him to go in 2023.
