Pascal Wehrlein has withdrawn from the Chinese Grand Prix this weekend due to ongoing fitness concerns after he injured his back in an accident in the Race of Champions event in January. It was probably always unlikely that he could participate in Shanghai after he withdrew after Friday practice in Australia.
As per the Australian Grand Prix his place will be taken by young Italian Antonio Giovianzzi who impressed all with his performance at Albert Park. With just one practice session to his credit he only just missed the cut for the second qualifying session and lined up 16th on the grid. He then drove a steady race to finish just two places out of the points in 12th place. He believed he could have done even better if he had pushed harder than he did. With his lack of practice he was not aware that his tyres would not degrade as little as they did so he spent much of the race not really pushing.
There seems to be little chance that Wehrlein is likely to be back to full fitness for the third round in Bahrain in just another weeks time so will probably be back in the Sauber for the Russian race at the end of the month.
Sam Snape
4-4 2017