Antonio Giovinazzi has been ruled out of what would have been his final Formula E race due to a hand injury incurred in yesterday’s race at the 1988 Olympic Stadium in Seoul.
He will be replaced by Jaguar reserve driver Sacha Fenestraz for today’s 2022 season finale.
Dragon Penske driver Giovinazzi is understood to have suffered the injury in a collision during race one with Antonio Felix da Costa’s DS. It is believed the injury was then exacerbated by later contact with Alexander Sims’ Mahindra.
.@Anto_Giovinazzi gets spun around after this moment with @AlexanderSims 🔄
LIVE timing 👉 https://t.co/KK5UJiyiRE
🇰🇷 2022 Hana Bank #SeoulEPrix pic.twitter.com/fMgfqWsCgW
— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) August 13, 2022
Giovinazzi was initially treated at the circuit medical centre and was seen with a strapped right hand after the race in which he parked his Penske EV-5 six laps before the end.
He was then transferred to a local hospital and underwent scans which revealed the extent of his injury.
Sims was given a 5-second penalty for his part in the contact which occurred at Turn 1, while da Costa was cleared over his shunt with Giovinazzi in the stadium section just after Turn 11 when the Italian ducked offline to take his attack boost.
The Race understands that both Envision and Jaguar’s respective reserve drivers Tom Blomqvist and Fenestraz were approached last night as potential back-up plans to race today.
While it is believed that Blomqvist ruled himself out of the possibility of driving for Dragon to concentrate on his duties with Envision, Fenestraz has been be drafted into the No.99 Penske cockpit having been released from his Jaguar commitments.
“We were happy to help our fellow team at Dragon Penske by releasing our reserve driver Sacha Fenestraz to race today in Seoul,” said a Jaguar statement.
“We wish Gio a speedy recovery and a positive day behind the wheel for Sacha.”
Franco-Argentine 23-year-old Fenestraz is set to be unveiled as a 2023 Nissan driver shortly, effectively replacing Envision bound Sebastien Buemi who calls time on his eight seasons with the e.dams run operation later today.
Formula 1 convert Giovinazzi’s first and possibly only season in Formula E will therefore come to a premature end after a campaign in which he has retired from eight of the 15 races he has taken part in. He is currently the only driver, other than Norman Nato who has replaced Sam Bird at Jaguar for one event only, to not score a point this season.
His best result came in Monaco when he finished 16th and he has been outqualified 10-5 by team-mate Sergio Sette Camara.
Giovinazzi is understood to be a possible option for Ferrari’s line-up in its 2023 World Endurance Championship Hypercar programme, which is currently in an initial testing phase.
He has long-standing Ferrari affiliations and has remained an F1 reserve and simulator driver for it after losing his seat with the Ferrari-powered Alfa Romeo team at the end of 2021.
