Giovinazzi eyeing Formula E test opportunity

©WRI2

Antonio Giovinazzi is joining the line-up of rookie drivers testing Formula E cars next weekend at Marrakesh.

The 2016 GP2 runner-up made his Formula 1 debut with Sauber at the start of 2017. He was a last-minute replacement for an unwell Pascal Wehrlein in Australia and China. However, he missed out on a full time drive with the team in 2018 when Charles Leclerc got the nod instead.

Giovinazzi went on to make seven free practice outings with Haas F1. Although he remains Ferrari's official third driver this year, the 24-year-old Italian is also keen to return to full time competition.

"Giovinazzi is a good guy, and it's just a question of time," Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne said last month. "We understand his desire to race, but at the moment there are no vacancies."

Giovinazzi will be testing for DS Virgin Racing in the FIA's all-electric championship, putting him alongside Sweden's Joel Eriksson.

Formula E revealed the full entry list for the rookie test on Thursday morning.

Williams' test and development driver Paul di Resta had earlier been confirmed as one of the participants at the Circuit International Automobile Moulay el Hassan on January 14. He'll be at the wheel of Jaguar Racing's car.

Paul di Resta gets Jaguar Formula E test in Marrakesh

Also testing for Jaguar will be Pietro Fittipaldi, grandson of two-time Formula 1 champion Emerson.

"I'm very happy and grateful for the opportunity Panasonic Jaguar Racing has given me to test the Jaguar I-TYPE 2," he said. "I’ve always followed Formula E closely since the first tests with the car at Donington.

"I’m really looking forward to driving the car and with Jaguar’s heritage in racing it is a very special privilege."

The driver line-up also includes former DTM star Gary Paffett and Japanese Formula 3 Championship winner Mitsunori Takaboshi. Formula 2 driver Nyck de Vries who will be at the wheel of one of the Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler cars.

British drivers Harry Tincknell and James Rossiter will be working with NIO Formula E Team and TECHEETAH respectively. Rising US open wheel star Colton Herta gets an outing at Andretti Formula E alongside Canada's Bruno Spengler.

The closed test will run over two sessions across the day. Each driver will be allowed one new set of tyres and one used for the entire test.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.