Antonio Giovinazzi achieves the fifth place in race-3 at Silverstone

Silverstone (GB) - Antonio Giovinazzi finishes his first weekend of the 2014 European FIA F3 Championship scoring a good fifth place after a recovery in Race-3 in Silverstone (GB). In the current standing, the driver from Martina Franca (I) is now in 7th position. Giovinazzi stands a great chance to improve his result beginning with the next round in Hockenheim (D) in two weeks.

The 2014 season opener of the European FIA F3 Championship finished well for Antonio Giovinazzi. He achieved the fifth position in Race-3 thanks to great recovery. This is a good sign, a good start for a season which can be very satisfactory for the Italian driver. "I had some problems at the start, just when the light went out. I didn't manage to have a good start and I couldn't keep the pace of the top positions drivers" explained Giovinazzi at the end of the race. "The sixth time set in qualifying meant that I would be able to aim at a good result, but despite the start from the third row I risked to lose contact with the first positions."

The driver from Martina Franca (Taranto, Italy), as usual, didn't feel discouraged and drove his Dallara F312-Volkswagen as fast as he could. He was 11th on lap one, but Giovinazzi didn't lose heart even though he knew that there were many cars between him and the leading positions. "The chassis was more performing than in the previous days, when we couldn't find the right setup. The car, today, allowed me to overtake tough drivers such as the Swedish Felix Rosenqvist, who I overtook at the beginning of the race." There was also,a great duel between Giovinazzi and the Austrian Lucas Auer: “At half race I closed the gap with a group of four drivers battling against each others. I decided to run the risk and I joined the battle. I attacked Auer, who was good at keeping me at bay, at least until when I managed to pass him."

The Italian driver, then, managed to gain ground lap after lap, tenth of a second after tenth of a second. He finally closed the gap with his team-mate, the English Tom Blomqvist. “I get on really well with my team-mate, also thanks to the serene atmosphere created by our team principal, Ricardo Gelael," points out Giovinazzi. "So, when I reached Blomqvist for the fifth place we challenged each other in a heated but very sportsmanlike way. I'm happy for my fifth position and I have to pay my compliments to Tom, for his victory in Race-1. I'm sorry for what happened to our team-mate Sean Gelael, who had to stop before the end of the race. I'm sure he will redeem himself very soon: already in the next race of Hockenheim, in two weeks.”

Giovinazzi is now seventh, together with Auer, in the current standing of the Championship. There are all the preconditions to achieve a good recovery in the next race in Germany.

Antonio Giovinazzi