Giovinazzi handed FP1 drive in Sochi

Antonio Giovinazzi will drive the Sauber C37 this weekend at the Russian Grand Prix during the first practice session. The ninety-minute run will be Giovinazzi's third FP1 outing this season, after already driving the car in Germany and Hungary.

The Italian holds the role of Sauber and Ferrari's reserve driver this season, and has participated in test sessions earlier this year. The 23-year-old will take over Marcus Ericsson's drive for the session, who will return to the seat in the afternoon.

Sauber says that it will announce its second driver soon, having already announced Kimi Raikkonen two weeks ago. It is believed that the second seat will go to either Giovinazzi or Ericsson. However, Italian sources reported on Monday that Sauber would announce Giovinazzi "soon".

Giovinazzi has not raced full-time in a series since finishing in second place to Pierre Gasly in the 2016 GP2 championship. He competed in the GTE Pro class at Le Mans in June and will drive for Extreme Speed Motorsports at Petit Le Mans later this year.