Antonio Giovinazzi

Antonio Giovinazzi is an Italian racing driver who currently competes with Alfa Romeo Racing in Formula One.

Giovinazzi made an F1 Grand Prix debut in 2016, driving for Sauber in two races as a replacement for injured Pascal Wehrlein and spending the rest of the season as a third driver for Haas F1 Team. Then, in 2018, he served as the third driver of Scuderia Ferrari and test driver of Sauber. He became full-time driver in 2019, joining Alfa Romeo Racing (former Sauber).

Earlier in a career, Giovinazzi was a vice-champion three times, in the 2016 GP2 Series, the 2015 FIA Formula 3 European Championship and the 2013 British Formula 3 International Series.

Antonio Giovinazzi

Champion in his rookie season

Born in December 1993 in Martina Franca in southern Italy, Giovinazzi raced in karting competitions from 2005 to 2012. After scoring many victories and several championship titles, he progressed to car racing in 2012. His first competition was the Formula Pilota China, in which Abarth-engined cars were in use. After scoring six wins, Giovinazzi dominantly took the championship title.

He also participated in the last round of the Formula Abarth European Series as a guest driver, winning two of three races.

Antonio Giovinazzi in 2013

British Formula 3 vice-champion in 2013

Giovinazzi continued with good results in 2013, participating in Formula 3 races. He finished second in the British Formula 3 International Series after winning two races in a Dallara-Mercedes he was driving for Double R Racing.

The same team was running his car in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship. Without wins or podiums, Giovinazzi ended his F3 European rookie season in 17th place. In November 2013, he made a debut at F3 Macau Grand Prix, finishing 16th.

Antonio Giovinazzi in 2014

Two F3 seasons with Carlin

In 2014, Giovinazzi signed for Carlin to drive the #19 Jagonya Ayam-sponsored Dallara-Volkswagen in the European F3 Championship. The maiden victory came in the eighth round at Red Bull Ring and then one more in the next round at Nurburgring. With two wins and seven podiums, Giovinazzi was sixth in the final standings.

He stayed with Carlin in 2015, scoring six victories and twenty podiums to finish second in the championship, behind Felix Rosenqvist. In the non-championship races, Giovinazzi has won Masters of Formula 3 at Zandvoort and finished fourth at Macau Grand Prix.

In August 2015, Antonio Giovinazzi raced with Audi RS5 DTM at Moscow Raceway

DTM debut with Audi

In August 2015, Giovinazzi made a Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters debut with Audi Sport Team Phoenix at Moscow Raceway, replacing Timo Scheider who was excluded for one round. Driving the #93 Audi RS5 DTM, Giovinazzi finished 19th in the first race and 21st in the second race.

In January 2016, Giovinazzi also made his sports car racing debut, participating in two races of the Asian Le Mans Series with Jagonya Ayam Eurasia team. He was sharing the #9 Oreca 03R LMP2 prototype with Sean Gelael, winning both races (Thailand and Malaysia).

Antonio Giovinazzi in 2016

GP2 Series runner-up in 2016

In 2016, Giovinazzi was ready for the next step on the open-wheel racing ladder, joining Prema Powerteam in the GP2 Series. His teammate Pierre Gasly became the champion, Giovinazzi finished second just eight points behind Gasly. Giovinazzi was a race winner five times.

In 2016, Giovinazzi also made three appearances in sports car races. In April, he was driving a BR01-Nissan LMP2 prototype for SMP Racing in the opening round of the European Le Mans Series, finishing fifth at Silverstone. In October and November, he joined Extreme Speed Motorsports in two rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship, finishing fourth in the LMP2 class at Fuji and second at Shanghai.

Antonio Giovinazzi made Formula One debut in the #36 Sauber C36

Unexpected Formula One debut with Sauber

For the 2017 season, Giovinazzi has been announced as a test driver and third driver for Scuderia Ferrari. He participated in pre-season testing with Sauber F1 Team, which is using Ferrari engines. Unexpectedly, Giovinazzi had an F1 debut in the Australian season-opening round as a replacement for Pascal Wehrlein, who didn't feel well after his Race of Champions accident.

Starting 16th in his F1 debut, Giovinazzi finished 12th in the #36 Sauber C36, two laps behind race winner Sebastian Vettel. Giovinazzi had one more F1 start in the Chinese Grand Prix. He crashed during qualifying and retired early in the race after a fourth-lap accident.

For most of the 2017 F1 season, Giovinazzi was a test driver for Haas

Test driver for Haas F1 Team

After Wehrlein's return to racing, Giovinazzi continued to work with Ferrari. In the mid-season, from the tenth round at Silverstone, he joined Haas F1 Team, another Ferrari-engined team, as a test driver. He participated in a practice session at seven Grand Prix weekends.

For the 2018 Formula 1 season, Giovinazzi was hoping to get a seat in Sauber, but he is appointed just as the third and reserve driver, next to Marcus Ericsson and Charles Leclerc. He was also serving as the third driver for Scuderia Ferrari.

Antonio Giovinazzi as Sauber F1 Team's driver

2019 - first full-time season in Formula 1

Then, for the 2019 Formula One season, Giovinazzi finally gets a full-time seat, joining Sauber F1 Team as a teammate to Kimi Raikkonen. The team was renamed to Alfa Romeo Racing.

Giovinazzi's best result in his rookie season was the fifth place in the Brazilian Grand Prix. He ended the season 17th in the points.