Australian Grand Prix Preview: Wehrlein out, Giovinazzi in

Photo: Formula1.com

Sauber F1 Team have made a driver change before tomorrow's (tonight's? depends where you are in the world...) Australian Grand Prix.

Pascal Wehrlein, still recovering from his accident at the Miami Race of Champions, will be replaced by Ferrari reserve driver Antonio Giovinazzi for the race. Wehrlein received medical clearance to drive this weekend but insists his fitness is still not where it needs to be (again, further proof drivers are athletes). As of today, he plans to be back in the car for China in two weeks.

Giovinazzi will one of two drivers making his Formula One début in Australia (Williams' Lance Stroll is the other). He finished second in the GP2 Championship last season to Frenchman and Red Bull development driver Pierre Gasly, whose hopes of earning an F1 ride this year ended when Toro Rosso re-signed both Daniil Kyvat and Carlos Sainz Jr.

Lewis Hamilton will start on pole alongside Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton's new teammate, Valtteri Bottas, starts third.

Also, as an American, I must give a shoutout to Haas F1 Team. Romain Grosjean starts sixth tomorrow, which is where he finished for Haas at Australia last season.

Another One Bites the Dust

Photo: Motorsport.com

Even if Manor do survive this offseason, Esteban Gutiérrez won't be one of their drivers.

In fact, he won't be anyone's driver, at least not in Formula One. Numerous reports surfaced today that Gutiérrez is instead finalizing a Formula E deal for the remainder of 2016-17 and beyond.

While there's no word on when the deal will be announced, Gutiérrez already seems committed to running the Mexico ePrix in April. As a native Mexican, Gutiérrez should be able to bring nothing but added interest to that race.

As an American, I'm obviously a big Haas F1 fan. I must say, Gutiérrez didn't impress me much this year. He always seemed a step behind teammate Romain Grosjean and didn't always have a very good attitude either. Hopefully the former Ferrari development driver can find more success in Formula E.