HOCKENHEIM-
Ahead of the seventh round of GP2 series, FormulaRapida.net met Antonio Giovinazzi and discussed about his season and his ambitions for the future.
Nina Rochette : How are you feeling ahead of this week-end at Hockenheim ?
Antonio Giovinazzi : I think it will be a quite important week-end for us, Hockenheim is one of the track I know the best where I have a lot of experience with the Formula 3 cars. It will be a good track for me. It will be important to see what we can do from a good few week-ends at Silverstone and Budapest so everything is good and I hope we can do a good week-end here.
NR : You are second in the standings at the moment and you are first rookie, if I told you that six months ago, would you have believed it ?
AG : I dont’t think so ! I think the first two races were bad and then I had this first race win at Baku and I excepted a bit more but we arrive second at the first half of the season and first rookie and I am really happy of where we are now and I hope I can continue like that.
NR : How do you explain that difference between your first two week-ends and the rest of your season ?
AG : As I said before, in the first two week-ends we knew we were fast because in testing in Jerez and Barcelona we always were in the top 5. But then in Barcelona and Monaco we had some issues like in Monaco race 1 when I got issues with the brakes. And then Barcelona we had a bit of a hit with Marciello and we got a penalty for race 2. So it was a bit of a mess for the first two week-ends but then we showed the pace was good and we were fast in Baku when we took the first pole and the first double win so I was really happy.
NR : Back to last year in Formula 3 we were with Carlin, why did you chose Prema, who were your rivals last year, to do your first year in GP2 ?
AG : I was in a really good team with good people to work with so I was really happy with them. But when I knew I could go to GP2 I saw Prema was there. I know it is a rookie team but in every category they are they show they are in front and win races so I told myself ‘why not ?’. And yes, I know they were my rivals rom last year but when you need to do well I think you need a good team, I am really happy to be here and it is also an Italian team so for Italian drivers it is always good.
NR : You said we were in talks to continue for one more year in F3 before the regulation changed and forbid you to do so (it would have been Giovinazzi’s fourth year in the series ed.). How did you react when you learnt the regulation changed ?
AG : Yes I was planning to stay for one more year in F3 because they were no many other choices but then with the new regulaiton they put me out of F3. I need to thank my sponsor, Jagonya Ayam for what they did to make me race in GP2 this year so thanks again to them because thanks to them I am in GP2 with Prema and that’s a very good thing for my career.
NR : Do you have time to follow Formula 3 this season or not ?
AG : Yes, I think it is one of the best categories in the junior categories so it is always good to watch them. Honestly I watched the qualifying this morning (F3 at Spa ed.), so I watched the Prema guys as well and the Carlin of course as it was my team last year so it is always really good to watch them.
NR : You have been racing and winning in Le Mans Series already, will single seaters remain your priority next year ?
AG : We did a few races with Sean (Gelael) in Asia Le Mans and in ELMS. It was a good experience for me as you see the race differently, you are three drivers so it is not only about yourself. It is quite different but I really enjoyed it so we will see for next year. For the moment I am focused on GP2 and we will see what we can do at the end of the year.
NR : What can we wish you for the future ?
AG : The target of every driver is of course to be a F1 driver but we know it is really hard now so I just need to focus to do really well in GP2 and then at the end of the year we will see what we can do and decide which choice we take.
