Schumacher to share Ferrari F1 reserve role with Giovinazzi in 2022

Mick Schumacher will be Ferrari’s official Formula 1 reserve driver at half of the races next season, splitting the role with Antonio Giovinazzi. 
Schumacher to share Ferrari F1 reserve role with Giovinazzi

The full-time Haas driver will be on standby for Ferrari at 11 races during his sophomore F1 season and would be called up should either Charles Leclerc✱ or Carlos Sainz be unable to compete. 

At the remaining 12 rounds, the role will be fille꧃d by Giovinazzi, whose clashing commitments in Formula E will make him unavailable for several F1 races in 2022. 

“It will be his second season next year, he is a Ferra🅷ri driver, coming from the academy,” Binotto explained. 

“I’m very happy that he can be part of 🎀the team as a reserve driver whenever that wജill be necessary - hopefully not.”

If Schumacher was called up to Ferrari, he would be replaced at Haas by🐎 reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi, who raced for he American squad at two rounds last year when Romain Grosjean was recovering from injuries sustained in his fireball crash in Bahrain. 

Binotto confirmed Schumacher will have access to Ferrari’s simulator and will continue to be supp꧃orted by the Maranello outfit throughout 2022.

“In 2021 he was followed by Ferrari engineers dedicated to the programme of Ferrari Driver A꧙cademy to support him in his development and that will ൩continue next year,” he said. 

“Our simulator will be available to him here at Maranello, but we’ve got an entire programme because being still part of an academy, it’s part of our obj💙ectives continuously to try to develop them as as drivers because again, the final objectives, one day, is they will prove to be capable to be a Ferrari driver.”

Mick Schumacher (GER) Haas VF-21.
Mick Schumacher (GER) Haas VF-21.
© xpbimages.com

The 22-year-old impressed in his rookie F1 season despite finding himself in uncompe😼titive, underdeveloped machinery at Haas.

“The reason we’ve got a Ferrari Driver Academy is to id﷽entify who can bꦑe the Ferrari driver for the future,” Binotto added. 

“Being part of it, if you are doing well, no doubt﷽ you may have opportunities. He’s already had one season in F1, which is important. 

“I think Mi๊ck ♐through the season did well. He improved himself, not only in terms of consistency, but as well in terms of speed.

“If I look at the last races, he was a lot closer to the cars ahead, while Haas didn’t really develop the car at all. The fact that he was closer proved he had a good im😼provement on the speed itself.”

Binotto stressed it will be important for Ferrari to have a driver on its reserve books wh🦩o🐭 has knowledge of the next-generation F1 cars that will be introduced in 2022. 

And he revealed that Giovinazzi, who wil🐈l also be available to Ferrari customer teams Alfa Romeo and Haas, will have a “full programme of simulator to bring him up to speed in terms 🐻of 2022 driving style”. 

“Those cars will be really a lot different to the current one in terms of driving style, a🀅nd it will be important to have one driver that knows those cars as💖 a reserve driver,” Binotto said.

“I can 🐽still count on Antonio because he’s a good driver, he has proved to be a good driver.” 

Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA) Alfa Romeo Racing C41.
Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA) Alfa Romeo Racing C41.
© xpbimages.com

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