Giovinazzi has a ‘chance’ at 2021 Ferrari drive

Michelle Foster
Antonio Giovinazzi upbeat PAmood

Antonio Giovinazzi

Antonio Giovinazzi believes he has a “chance” of stepping up to Ferrari next year, replacing Sebastian Vettel as Charles Leclerc’s team-mate.

Backed by Ferrari, Giovinazzi contested his first full season in F1 last year, racing for Alfa Romeo.

But while it wasn’t a good first half for the Italian, improvements in the latter part of the championship saw him retain the Alfa Romeo seat for 2020.

Giovinazzi, though, is dreaing of the big one.

He told Gazzetta dello Sport: “I would be lying if I said I do not dream of Ferrari.

“The most important thing for me is to fully concentrate on my work, but I know that if I perform well in 2020, I will have a chance.

“I already have a great relationship with Charles. We talk a lot and go to the same restaurants in Monaco.”

The 26-year-old has set himself a few simple targets for this year, simple at least on paper.

The first of those is to get the better of Kimi Raikkonen with the 2007 World Champion outscoring him by 29 points last year.

“Beating Kimi is one of my goals for this season, but not the only one,” Giovinazzi added.

“It will be a crucial season, but it’s always like that when there is a confirmation or a promotion.

“He (Raikkonen) doesn’t say much, and at first he did not help me because his results were better and it seems like there was a big gap.

“But he was an important benchmark for me to grow up in a professional way.”

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