Antonio Giovinazzi - web image - sportstiger

Picture Credit: Twitter/@F1

Alfa Romeo’s driver Antonio Giovinazzi will leave the team at the end of the ongoing season. The same was confirmed by the Hinwil-based team on Tuesday. This means that Alfa Romeo will have an entirely new driver line-up in the next season. This is because the team had already announced the retirement of Kimi Raikkonen, who will be leaving with the end of the 2021 Formula 1 season. While Raikkonen is set to be replaced by Valtteri Bottas who will be joining from Mercedes next season, replacement of Giovinazzi is yet to be announced.

It is worth noting that Giovinazzi has made 59 grand prix starts in his career so far and all have come while representing Alfa Romeo. He had joined the side four years back when it used to compete as Sauber, as a substitute for Pascal Wehrlein.

We will cherish the memories of the good times: Team Principal Alfa Romeo Racing

Frederic Vasseur, the Team Principal Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN, revealed that saying goodbye to someone like Antonio wouldn’t be easy as the player has been with the team for a long time. Meanwhile, he added that the side along with the driver would look to yield better results in the upcoming three races left in the 2021 Formula 1 calendar.

“Saying goodbye to a driver is never easy, especially so in the case of Antonio, who has been part of the team for so long. As we part ways, we will cherish the memories of the good times and learn lessons from the bad ones, knowing these moments all made us grow together as a team. We wish Antonio the best for his future after the 2021 season: before then, we still have three races to achieve some good results together and finish the year strongly,” said Vasseur.

Notably, the rest three races to take place in the season are Qatar Grand Prix on November 21, Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on December 5 and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on December 12. Max Verstappen is currently leading in the Driver Standings with 332.5 points, while Lewis Hamilton trails behind him with 318.5 points. Talking about Giovinazzi, he is at the 18th spot.