Vettel: Ferrari won’t suffer in Kvyat, Giovinazzi simulator exits
Sebastian Vettel remains confident Ferrari will find sufficient replacements for Daniil Kvyat and Antonio Giovinazzi following their departures from simulator roles as they take up Formula 1 race seats for 2019.
Last year Kvyat and Giovinazzi shared the bulk of the simulator driver work at Ferrari, which Vettel credited for providing him with consistent set-up improvements across race weekends in 2018, but the four-time F1 world champion will be without both drivers as they compete against Ferrari next year at Toro Rosso and Sauber respectively.
Sebastian Vettel remains confident Ferrari will find sufficient replacements for Daniil Kvyat and Antonio Giovinazzi following their departures from simulator roles as they take up Formula 1 race seats for 2019.
Last year Kvyat and Giovinazzi shared the bulk of the simulator driver work at Ferrari, which Vettel credited for providing him with consistent set-up improvements across race weekends in 2018, but the four-time F1 world champion will be without both drivers as they compete against Ferrari next year at Toro Rosso and Sauber respectively.
Ferrari missed out on Robert Kubica having offered him a reserve and simulator role for 2019, only to see the Polish driver opt for the Williams race seat, leaving the Italian squad short on options.
Currently, long-time Ferrari drivers Marc Gene and Davide Rigon hold F1 test roles but Vettel remains optimistic the team will be able to bolster its ranks ahead of 2019.
“Personally, I’m not a fan of the simulator because it’s just not fun. But you get the point, it is very important, it is an important tool,” Vettel said. “Based on our findings, we change the car, it is better and we were happier.
“We’re extremely thankful for the guys, taking in the time because it’s not the nicest job on Friday night, especially when you’re young, but it’s important, it all adds up.
“Everybody plays his part and in the end we have the honour to have the steering wheel in our hands and drive the machine that we all try to create and reach out with performance.
“For next year, it’s true, we take a step but I think we will find people that fit in very well and very quickly so I’m confident we will have a strong team on that front as well next year.”
Ferrari could call upon one of its junior drivers from its academy or a recent F1 driver, with Brendon Hartley and Sergey Sirotkin both being options after missing out on 2019 drives, while axed McLaren driver Stoffel Vandoorne has been snapped up by Mercedes for a simulator role alongside his Formula E drive with HWA Racelab.
