Antonio Giovinazzi set to reject Mercedes offer
- Published on 17 Nov 2016 14:48
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- By: Dominik Wilde
GP2 points leader Antonio Giovinazzi looks set to turn down an offer from Mercedes to join their successful young driver scheme.
The 22-year-old Italian has been in talks with Mercedes, with Auto Motor und Sport claiming that he has an offer on his table from the German manufacturer.
If Giovinazzi accepts the offer, he will be placed in DTM next year witha view at Formula One graduation in the future.
However, "He has not been in contact with us for three weeks now," Mercedes motorsport chief Wolff revealed, leading to doubts over whether Giovinazzi will indeed link up with Mercedes.
Mercedes have played a part in the junior careers of a number of F1 drivers, including Lewis Hamilton, Paul di Resta, Pascal Wehrlein, Esteban Ocon, and Michael Schumacher.
The 2015 European Formula Three runner up has also been conducting simulator work for Ferrari, although it is not thought that the Maranello squad have made an offer for his services.
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Replies (3)
Login to replyRebellious
Posts: 5
Smart move. Merc has to many 'possible drivers' waiting for a seat.
But Hamilton and Rossberg are still kicking and alive.
You'd currently get signed by Merc and 'parked' on the 'possible drivers' heap and maybe you get a drive with a 'second' row team.
Wish him the best. He's an amicable guy!
Hemex
Posts: 1,307
Why would that be a smart move? That depends on his options, which I know nothing about. The fact that he's GP2 leader (ahead of Gasly) may bring him more attention of other big teams, but most of them have their programs already filled with other juniors clamoring to join the fray. Being amicable may help, but that's not enough to get a seat.
Patentprutser
Posts: 392
Giovinazi, Wehrlein, Ocon how many of them will Mercedes recruit?
I can understand the doubt at Giovinazzi's sight. You become just one of many, but it's still the strongest team in the field....