In a highly impressive fight back from a disappointing start, Antonio Giovinazzi is revelling in his maiden GP2 Series victory after triumphing in a hectic Feature race around the Baku Street Circuit on Saturday.
The Prema Racing driver made a slow start from pole position but made a number of positions back on track to run third by lap twelve, then passed Oliver Rowland for second on lap fourteen and Raffaele Marciello for the lead on lap eighteen.
The race was blighted by safety car interventions, with the last of those coming in the closing stages with Giovinazzi at the head of the field, with the Italian surviving a scare when he locked up his brakes at the first turn on the restart to maintain the lead and secure victory after a two-lap sprint to the chequered flag.
“Winning my maiden GP2 race is such an outstanding emotion,” revealed Giovinazzi. “I struggled a bit at the start and it ended up being disappointing, but from that point on the pace was good, especially on prime tires.
“I want to thank the team for giving me a perfect car. I hope to do well tomorrow too starting from the 8th place as there are plenty of passing opportunities. We will try to improve the start”.
