Alfa Romeo has announced that Antonio Giovinazzi will continue to race for the team in 2020, partnering Kimi Raikkonen once again.
The news comes after much speculation surrounding Giovinazzi’s future after a disappointing full debut season, having previously raced for the team as Pascal Wehrlein’s stand in during the 2017 season.
Speaking about his decision to stay with Alfa, Giovinazzi said; “I am grateful for the incredible level of support I received in my first full season in Formula One: everyone in the team has stuck by my side since I joined and i am really looking forward to continuing our journey together.
We learned a lot this year and I am confident we can make a big step forward next season.”
Team Principal, Fredric Vasseur was ‘extremely pleased to confirm Giovinazzi for next season and praised the Italian for his work ethic, saying; “His technical feedback, work ethics and positive approach will help us continue to push our team forward, and so will the consistency of an unchanged line-up for next season.”
What does Giovinazzi’s retainment mean for Nico Hulkenberg?
This announcement now has huge implications for Nico Hulkenberg who now looks certain to lose his F1 seat at the end of this season, with Renault having announced Esteban Ocon as his replacement back in August.
There are however two seats still available but both Red Bull and Williams aren’t thought to be considering Hulkenberg as a potential partner for Max Verstappen nor George Russell.
Toro Rosso meanwhile isn’t a realistic option given that they tend to field young drivers who are members of the Red Bull academy.
We could therefore see Hulkenberg depart after ten seasons in F1, in which he has taken one pole position and even managed to win the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans for Porsche in the World Endurance Championship, whilst racing with Force India at that time in F1.
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