Ferrari reserve driver Antonio Giovinazzi has been confirmed to join the list of drivers invited to take part in a testing session for the Alpine Formula 1 team at the Hungaroring circuit in Budapest.
Antonio Giovinazzi, who raced in Formula 1 for Alfa Romeo Racing from 2019 to 2021, is already closely linked with a drive at Haas, where he could replace Mick Schumacher for the next season, but is also taken into consideration for a possible seat with Alpine, after Fernando Alonso confirmed he would leave the team at the end of the current championship.
The former Renault F1 Team will be using the 2021 A521 challenger, used for its driver development programme at the Hungarian race track. The team’s protege Jack Doohan, who would have participated in the test anyway, will have a chance to strengthen his claim to the Formula 1 race seat.
Other drivers taking part in this testing session are Nyck de Vries (who impressed last weekend when he made his F1 debut with Williams in teh Italian Grand Prix) and IndyCar driver Colton Herta, who is still trying to get a superlicence in order to be able to race for AlphaTauri in the 2023 F1 season.
It is believed that Alpine agreed to offer the American the opportunity to take part in this test with the goal of helping him gain F1 credentials and eventually be able to sign with AlphaTauri, therefore allowing Pierre Gasly to join Alpine. If that doesn’t happen, Antonio Giovinazzi, de Vries and Doohan are all possible candidates, with the Ferrari reserve driver in a string position based on Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi’s comments: he indicated the team would prefer a driver with more experience.
“We need to find a driver that’s capable of scoring big points right away,” Rossi told Motosport.com in Monza of the team’s driver selection process. This basically leads us towards a more senior driver if you will, but at the same that is capable to grow with us. So those are the criteria we use at the moment. Otmar [Szafnauer] is leading the process, seeing all of the drivers, discussing with them, assessing options, assessing them here, potentially assessing them in tests. So I guess it’s going to be a process that is going to last a little bit. We want to make the right decision and there’s no hurry.” – he explained.
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Italian driver Antonio Giovinazzi, who was seen in the Alpine hospitality unit during last weekend in Monza, is still under contract with Scuderia Ferrari, as the Maranello team supports him in the negotiations with Haas, but Ferrari would agree to release him if Alpine offer him a seat on the grid for the 2023 Formula 1 championship.
A strong run in the first free practice session for the Italian Grand Prix with Haas gave the former Alfa Romeo driver a much needed boost, and he is due a second outing in FP1 for the United States Grand Prix: “I want to be here next year for sure, it’s not a secret, but it’s not on my hands,” he said at Monza. “So let’s see what we can do, and for now I focus on doing a great job in these two sessions. One is over, now we have another one.” – Antonio Giovinazzi explained.
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