Good first for Antonio Giovinazzi at Sauber

Sauber has taken the gamble of betting on a proven reliable 2016 Ferrari engine rather than investing the additional millions needed to obtain the latest upgrade. The Swiss team’s wager is to achieve good results at the beginning of the season while other teams deal with the teething problems of this new regulation. A first good step was achieved during this initial qualifying session.

Antonio Giovinazzi, 16th (1:26.419 in Q1)

Antonio Giovinazzi arrived in Australia wearing the colors of Scuderia Ferrari, for which he is now the reserve driver. But it was ultimately the blue of Sauber he donned to replace Pascal Wehrlein, who withdrew for medical reasons, giving him the opportunity to participate in his first F1 Grand Prix.

The conditions weren’t ideal as he only learned of his start this morning, on an urban circuit he had only walked. Fortunately, he familiarized himself with the car during winter tests. The least that can be said is that the GP2 vice-champion has nothing to be ashamed of in his performance since the gap between him and his teammate, Marcus Ericsson, is only 0.18 seconds.

But this tiny gap made the difference between Q1 and Q2. The Italian therefore stopped in the first phase of qualifications but will have had the satisfaction of outpacing a Haas, a McLaren, a Williams, and a Renault, which is already quite honorable.

He could only have a smile and showed his satisfaction: « It’s a very special day for me today. It’s my first Grand Prix in Formula One! I am very satisfied with my performance today, I was just a few tenths away from Q2. »

Marcus Ericsson, 15th (1:26.465 in Q2)

As for Marcus Ericsson, he made only a small mistake in Q2 but being nearly a second off Esteban Ocon’s 14th place, he could not reasonably expect much better from this first qualifying: « It was a good qualifying session for us. We are working hard throughout this weekend to maximize the car’s potential. I managed to clock a good time in Q1, which allowed us to move on to Q2. The second part of this qualifying session started well, but unfortunately, I went a bit wide in turn number 9 and lost some time. »

The two drivers will therefore try to take advantage of weather conditions or accidents to try to make their way to the points.