The Italian, who is already closely linked with a seat at Haas for 2023, has emerged as a possible candidate for the seat vacated by Fernando Alonso at the French team.
Alpine is using the 2021 A521 for its driver development program at the Hungarian GP venue, the Hungaroring.
The team’s junior, Jack Doohan , will have the opportunity there to reinforce his candidacy to occupy the position of starting driver next year along with Esteban Ocon.
As previously reported, the star of the recent Italian GP, Nyck de Vries , and IndyCar driver Colton Herta , who is still trying to secure a super license to race with AlphaTauri next year, are also due to test.
Alpine wants to give the American some mileage to help Herta achieve his place in F1 and so AlphaTauri releases Pierre Gasly so they can sign the Frenchman.
If that doesn’t happen, Antonio Giovinazzi, Nyck de Vries and Jack Doohan are obvious candidates. The Italian is in a good position if, as Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi has indicated, the team ultimately opts for someone with more experience.
However, after finishing ninth in his first race last weekend, de Vries has moved to the top of the shortlist for all teams that do not have their 2023 line-up locked down.
“We need to find a driver who is capable of scoring points straight away,” Rossi told Motorsport.com at Monza of the team’s driver selection process.
“That basically leads us to a more veteran driver, but at the same time one who is able to grow with us. So those are the criteria we use at the moment.”
“Otmar [Szafnauer] is leading the process, seeing all the drivers, discussing with them, evaluating the options, evaluating them here, evaluating them potentially in tests. So I think it’s going to be a process that’s going to take a little while.
“We want to make the right decision and there is no rush.”
Giovinazzi, who was seen at the Alpine hospitality in Monza, is still a Ferrari contract driver, who helped him get to Haas. However, he would be released if he were guaranteed a starting seat elsewhere.
A strong performance in FP1 at the Italian GP with Haas bolstered the former Sauber and Alfa Romeo aspirations, and he is expected to do another FP1 in Austin .
“I want to be here next year, sure, it’s no secret, but it’s not in my hands,” he declared in Monza. “So let’s see what we can do, and for now I’m focused on doing a great job in these two sessions. I’ve already done one, now we’ll have another.”
