Formula 1: Antonio Giovinazzi eyeing Ferrari promotion for 2021

Antonio Giovinazzi is set for a second Formula 1 season with Alfa Romeo Racing in 2020, and he is seeking a promotion to Ferrari for 2021.

After a rocky start to his rookie Formula 1 season at Alfa Romeo Racing, there was doubt that Antonio Giovinazzi would be back for a second year with the team in 2020.

But he improved throughout the year and actually outscored teammate Kimi Raikkonen 13 to 12 from the summer break to the end of the season after managing only one point to Raikkonen’s 31 throughout the season’s first 12 races.

He did so on the strength of three top 10 finishes, including a career-high fifth place finish in the Brazilian Grand Prix, after recording a top finish of 10th in the Austrian Grand Prix before the break.

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As a result of the fact that the 26-year-old Italian was able to turn things around in the second half of the 21-race season, he received Ferrari’s backing to return to the Swiss team alongside Kimi Raikkonen in 2020 before a deal was ultimately confirmed.

Ferrari have the right to select one of Alfa Romeo Racing’s two drivers, and Giovinazzi was the driver they selected for the 2019 season after Charles Leclerc was promoted to the factory team to replace Raikkonen after 2018.

Now Giovinazzi is hoping to further put himself in Ferrari’s good graces in 2020, and he is hoping that results in a promotion to the factory team alongside Leclerc in 2021.

Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel has driven for the team since the 2015 season, but his contract, which was extended by three years back in August of 2017, is slated to expire at the end of the 2020 season. His recent form has left plenty of doubt that he will be back with the team in 2021.

Here is what Giovinazzi had to say about a potential promotion, according to EssentiallySports.

"“I would be lying if I said I do not dream of Ferrari. The most important thing for me is to completely focus 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 [Leclerc]. We talk a lot and go to the same restaurants in Monaco.“I challenge anyone in any job to sit out for two years and come back. But in terms of speed, I wasn’t far from Kimi Raikkonen. I lacked the racing, the starts, the strategies, the pitstops and how to manage the tires. It wasn’t like I returned to Formula 2, but to the highest level where I only did a race and a half against the strongest drivers in the world.”"

Ferrari have already signed the 22-year-old Leclerc through the 2024 season, effectively committing to him as their long-term top driver, so Giovinazzi would need to prove that he can be an effective number two driver in addition to a driver who can bring the car home in one piece and achieve solid results on a regular basis.

There have been numerous other candidates mentioned as possibilities to replace the 32-year-old German if Ferrari do indeed opt to move on from him after the 2020 season, including but not limited to six-time champion Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo.

Moving Giovinazzi up to the Maranello-based team as opposed to signing somebody else would also free up a spot for Ferrari to promote a young Ferrari Driver Academy competitor such as Mick Schumacher to compete for Alfa Romeo Racing in the 2021 season.

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Will Ferrari part ways with Sebastian Vettel following the 2020 Formula 1 season, and if so, will Antonio Giovinazzi be the man they tab as his replacement for 2021 and possibly beyond?

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