Sauber F1 Team has placed Antonio Giovinazzi on its list of drivers for the next season of Formula. He will accompany the former Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen.
Ferrari’s trainee Giovinazzi competed with Marcus Ericsson to make his place besides Finnish racing driver. Kimi Raikkonen won Formula 1 world championship title in 2007.
Sauber explained its engagement with 24-year-old Italian driver in a statement. It said that the team promotes the values of discovering and developing new talent. And engaging Giovinazzi “is particularly significant in the scope of the project.”
“This is a dream come true, and it is a great pleasure to have the chance to race for this team,” said Giovinazzi.
“As an Italian, it is a huge honour for me to represent a brand as iconic and successful as Alfa Romeo in our sport.”
Giovinazzi made his way to podium in GP2 title race in 2016 with Pierre Gasly, who is running for Red Bull next season, making his way for the championship win.
Last season, Giovinazzi replaced Pascal Wehrlein twice while he was injured. He made multiple appearances last season for Haas at FP1 and this season he tested for Ferrari.
The new deal with Sauber will bring Italian driver to his full season for Formula 1.
Technical partnership between Ferrari and Alfa Romeo allowed a swap between the two drivers, Charles Leclerc and Antonio Giovinazzi.
Frederic Vasseur, Team principal, informed that Kimi Raikkonen, who will race for Sauber next season, wasn’t the part of the swap. The deal with Finnish driver is independent of the engagement between Ferrari and Alfa Romeo.
“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,” said Vasseur.
“Together with Alfa Romeo, we are delighted to welcome Antonio Giovinazzi, who will take the place of Charles Leclerc.
“We have already had the opportunity to work with him in the past and he has proven to have great potential.”
Ericsson played four season with Sauber after which he left for Caterham in 2015. He was believed to stay because he was linked to the investors behind the team.
However, Ericsson is announced as “third driver and brand ambassador” for the sauber beside Raikkonen and Giovinazzi.
