Minardi: Giovinazzi deserves F1 race seat

Jan.16 - New Ferrari reserve Antonio Giovinazzi actually deserves a seat on the 2017 grid.

That is the claim of former Italian F1 team owner Gian Carlo Minardi, referring to the Italian 23-year-old who almost won this year's GP2 title.

"He is already worthy of F1, possessing all the skills that enable a driver to do well in the top category," Minardi told the Italian publication Autosprint.

"The good news is being taken by Ferrari; the less good news is that he has no guarantee of actual kilometres. If I still had my team, he would certainly be making his debut, gathering valuable experience for the future.

"But apparently at this time, there is not a smaller team who can give these opportunities, or at least there are no vacancies," Minardi added.

Giovinazzi himself is looking on the bright side of his new job, nonetheless admitting that he will miss the adrenaline of actual racing in 2017.

"But still I'm happy to be learning new things," he told Corriere della Sera newspaper.

"F1 is completely new to me, although in reality the car is not so different from GP2. I will need to understand all the functions, train hard and make myself ready," Giovinazzi added.

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