Antonio Giovinazzi to fill in for Wehrlein

Antonio Giovinazzi will complete the rest of the weekend with Sauber as Pascal Wehrlein has been deemed unwell the start the race following his crash at the Race of Champions.

Giovinazzi also replaced Wehrlein for the first week of pre-season testing, as German recovered. However, a further training deficit has now sidelined Wehrlein for the rest of the weekend.

"My fitness level is not as it should be for a full race distance because of my training deficit," Wehrlein said. "I explained the situation to the team yesterday evening. Therefore, the Sauber F1 Team has decided not to take any risks. It is a pity, but the best decision for the team."

"Nine weeks ago my injury happened. Then I couldn't train as hard as I wanted and as I needed to do. I feel like I couldn't do the whole race distance. If I think after a few laps that's painful, I'm losing concentration, I'm losing focus and this would be too high risk."

Team principal Monisha Kaltenborn said: "We have great respect of Pascal's openness and professionalism. This decision was definitely not an easy one for him, it underlines his qualities as a team player. The focus is now on his fitness level, and in such a situation we do not take any unnecessary risks."

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  • Country DE
  • Date of b. Oct 18 1994 (31)
  • Place of b. Sigmaringen, DE
  • Weight 61 kg
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