Antonio Giovinazzi will race alongside 2007 Formula One World Champion Kimi Raikkonen, completing Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team’s driver line-up for the 2019 season.
? CONFIRMED: 2019 Driver Line-up Locked In ?@Anto_Giovinazzi will be an Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team driver from 2019
Antonio will line-up alongside #Kimi7 for us next season
Who’s excited to see these two together?#WelcomeGio #f1 @F1 pic.twitter.com/dipRGvNyZa
— Sauber F1 Team (@SauberF1Team) September 25, 2018
The Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team has a tradition of discovering and nurturing young talent in all of its history. Giovinazzi already has experience with the team as he worked there for the past two years. He will race in place of Charles Leclerc who will join Ferrari in 2019.
The decision to elect Antonio Giovinazzi is particularly significant in the scope of the project that this season saw the return of Alfa Romeo to the pinnacle of motorsports after a hiatus of more than 30 years. Giovinazzi has a strong bond to the brand from an early age.
Antonio Giovinazzi made his Formula One debut with Sauber at the 2017 Australian Grand Prix. Since then he competed with the Swiss team on one more occasion (2017 Chinese Grand Prix). Furthermore, he has completed several tests and FP1 sessions for the team. Meanwhile, he has proven his talent. The Italian driver also shares the goal of achieving ambitious results together with the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team.
In his career until now Giovinazzi has raced in Formula Abarth (2012), the British Formula 3 (2013) as well as the European Formula 3 (2013-2015). He was also in the DTM in 2015. In 2015-2016 he took part in the Asian Le Mans Series and in 2016 was a part of GP2.
.@Anto_Giovinazzi to race for Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team in 2019. All the best! pic.twitter.com/DloUqaOpJ9
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) September 25, 2018
Antonio Giovinazzi:
“This is a dream come true, and it is a great pleasure to have the chance to race for this team. As an Italian, it is a huge honour for me to represent a brand as iconic and successful as Alfa Romeo in our sport. I would like to thank the Scuderia Ferrari and the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team for giving me this great opportunity. I am very motivated and cannot wait to start working towards achieving great results together.”
Frédéric Vasseur, CEO of Sauber Motorsport and Team Principal of the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team:
“We first signed Kimi Raikkonen, an extremely experienced driver who will contribute to the development of our car and will accelerate the progress of our team as a whole. We have already had the opportunity to work with Alfa Romeo in the past and he has proven to have great potential. Our target is to continue progressing and fighting together for positions that count.”
