Giovinazzi "absolutely" deserves another chance in F1 - Raikkonen

Following months of uncertainty and speculation, Giovinazzi’s F1 fate was sealed earlier this week when Alfa Romeo announced the signing of Formula 2 frontrunner Guanyu Zhou to partner Valtteri Bottas and form an all-new line-up for next season. 

Raikkonen, who is retiring from F1 at the end of the current campaign having spent three seasons alongside Giovinazzi, believes the Italian has been unfortunate to lose his seat.

“Obviously it’s a shame for him,” Raikkonen said. “He’s a very nice guy, we’ve known each for quite a while, since the Ferrari days, already. 

“But, you know, that’s how sometimes it goes. Hopefully, he found something good to do and, hopefully, one day, he has another chance in Formula 1.” 

Asked if he thinks Giovinazzi would deserve another chance, Raikkonen replied: “Yes, absolutely. But there’s not that many cars and, for sure, there’s a lot of people trying to come into Formula 1, so, let’s hope so.”

Giovinazzi expressed some frustration at losing his drive to Zhou and took to social media to rue how “ruthless” F1 can be “when money rules”. 

The 27-year-old revealed he was informed he would be replaced for 2022 on Friday in Brazil. 

“For sure it was not an easy day for me, but in the end I’m happy with myself to be honest during these last three years I improved myself all the time,” he added. 

“For sure something could be better, some thing were good, I’m happy with myself, nothing I can do more. Every time you asked me about my future I always said it was not in my hand and it was like this. 

“So in the end this was the decision, and now I’m focused for the next step which will be Formula E and I’m really excited about next year.”

Despite his impending switch to Formula E, Giovinazzi is hoping to retain links to F1 and is in talks with Ferrari about a possible role for next year. 

“I’m still a Ferrari driver now and we are discussing also about next year,” he explained. 

“For sure it is one of my target to stay here and see what will happen for 2023. [There’s] still ongoing discussion, but we will try our best.”