Antonio Giovinazzi finished as GP2 runner-up in 2016, but since filling in at Sauber at the start of 2017, he had little race experience. He finally stepped up to a full-time race seat alongside Kimi Raikkonen at Alfa Romeo in 2019.
| Full Name | Antonio Giovinazzi |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Date of Birth | 14th December 1993 |
| First Race | 2017 Australian Grand Prix |
| First Win | – |
| Wins | 0 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Fastest Laps | 0 |
Antonio Giovinazzi, born in Martina Franca in 1993, began his competitive karting career in 2006. His six year stint in cars saw him pick up a range of national and European trophies. The Italian moved into single seaters with a season in Formula Pilota China in 2012, in which he won the championship with six race victories. He also made a successful guest appearance at the closing round of the Formula Abarth season, taking two wins and a further podium finish.
For the next three years, Giovinazzi raced in the Formula 3 European Championship, improving year-on-year in the series. He finished sixth in his second season in 2014 with two wins, before 2015 brought him six wins and twenty podium finishes in the 33 races on his way to the runner-up spot in the championship. 2013 also saw Giovinazzi compete in British Formula 3, where he finished as runner up to Jordan King, taking two wins and seven podium finishes from the twelve races. He rounded off his Formula 3 career with a fourth place finish at the prestigious Macau Grand Prix.
In 2016, Giovinaazi partnered Pierre Gasly at the Prema team in GP2. The pair battled to the end of the season for the title, with Gasly eventually beating Giovinazzi by just eight points. After a quiet start to the year, Giovinazzi took a double win at the Baku round of the championship – a rare achievement in the series. He went on to take another four wins through the year, including a win at his home event in Monza, despite starting from the back of the grid. In 2016, the Italian also made his endurance racing debut, competing in the first round of the European Le Mans Series at Silverstone. He went on to compete in two rounds of the World Endurance Championship later in the year, with a best result of second in the LMP2 class at the 6 Hours of Shanghai.
Giovinazzi was announced as Ferrari’s development driver for the 2017 season and also participated in winter testing with the Sauber team. Pascal Wehrlein declared himself unfit to drive at the season-opening 2017 Australian Grand Prix, leaving Giovinazzi to parachute into the Sauber seat ahead of Free Practice 3. The Italian impressed on debut, very nearly out-qualifying team-mate Marcus Ericsson despite spending less than an hour in the car. He finished a respectable twelfth in the Grand Prix. He also deputised for Wehrlein at the Chinese Grand Prix, but was less successful. While he reached the second part of qualifying, he crashed out at the final turn in Q1 leaving him unable to set a lap time in the session. In the Grand Prix, he crashed out in a similar place. Wehrlein returned for the third race of the season, while the Italian went on to appear in seven Free Practice 1 sessions with Haas for the remainder of the year.
Giovinazzi continued his role in 2018, this time with the Sauber team, participating in five practice sessions in the second half of the season. On 25th September, it was announced that the Italian would partner Kimi Raikkonen at the Sauber team for 2019.
GIOVINAZZI IN 2019
After a long break from competitive racing, and having made two previous F1 appearances at the start of the 2017 season, Antonio Giovinazzi returned to the sport in a full-time role at Alfa Romeo. It was a baptism of fire for the Italian, being put up against 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen.
It cannot be denied that Giovinazzi was a match for Raikkonen in qualifying by the end of the season, but the Finn still had the upper hand in the races. Giovinazzi’s best result of the year was fifth place in Brazil – a race in which Raikkonen finished one position ahead. The Italian scored points at four races over the course of the season, including taking a ninth place finish at his home race in Italy.
Giovinazzi took the honour of being the only driver outside of the top three teams to have led a race this year, leading four laps in Singapore. Although speculation surrounded his future in the sport later on in the season, especially with Nico Hulkenberg on the market, Giovinazzi will partner Raikkonnen once more in 2020. He’ll be hoping to challenge his team-mate more regularly in next year’s races. Read more: Antonio Giovinazzi’s 2019 F1 Season In Stats.
GIOVINAZZI IN 2020
Both Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkkonen scored four points for Alfa Romeo in 2021, though Giovinazzi scored on more occasions. He took ninth place in the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix before finishing tenth at the Eifel and Emilia Romagna Grands Prix. More often than not, Giovinazzi was able to make up positions in races – especially on the opening lap. He completed eleven of this year’s seventeen races in a better position than where he qualified.
Giovinazzi proved to be more of a match for experienced team-mate Raikkonen this year, with the Italian winning the qualifying battle. Giovinazzi was regularly ahead by small margins. He set faster times than Raikkonen in 27 of the 51 qualifying sectors in 2020, and on average was faster by just 0.013 seconds – the closest average gap between team-mates on this year’s grid. Read more: Antonio Giovinazzi’s 2020 F1 Season In Stats.
Despite strong performances from Ferrari Academy drivers in Formula 2, Giovinazzi will remain with Alfa Romeo in 2021. Will he be able to beat his team-mate more consistently next season?
ANTONIO GIOVINAZZI’S F1 RECORD
| Year | Team | Final Position | Points Scored | Wins | Poles | Podiums |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Sauber | 22nd | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | Alfa Romeo | 17th | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | Alfa Romeo | 17th | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |