JANUARY 19, 2017

Giovinazzi won't stagnate in Ferrari role says Wolff

Toto Wolff has played down fears the career of new Ferrari reserve Antonio Giovinazzi might stagnate in 2017.

Toto Wolff has played down fears the career of new Ferrari reserve Antonio Giovinazzi might stagnate in 2017.

After almost winning the GP2 title, the 23-year-old Italian has been signed up by Ferrari but is not guaranteed any actual kilometres.

So the question was posed to Mercedes' Toto Wolff - who has successfully placed his own juniors Pascal Wehrlein and Esteban Ocon on the F1 grid - as to whether Giovinazzi would be better off in the Mercedes programme.

"But Giovinazzi has not driven a formula one car, so you can't compare him with Wehrlein and Ocon," he told Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"Pascal won the title in DTM and then spent a season in formula one, while Esteban won the titles in GP3 and Formula 3," he said.

Giovinazzi, however, almost won the GP2 title this year, but Wolff insisted: "I'm sure Ferrari will find the best option for him."

Asked if the Italian youngster is in danger of dropping off the F1 radar this year, Wolff answered: "No. A great example is Valtteri Bottas.

"He was third driver for a year with Williams before he became their race driver."

(GMM)