Formula 1 | Giovinazzi: “In Ferrari I feel valued, 2017 gave me a lot”

Antonio Giovinazzi takes stock of his 2017: the surprising debut with the Clean, the days of free practice held with the Haas and the dream, always alive, of finding a seat in Formula 1. “This season has brought me more than I expected” – said the third Ferrari driver to La Gazzetta dello Sport. “I raced in Australia and then in China with Sauber, I'm taking part in free practice for the GPs with Haas and I tried the SF70H in the rookie tests. I come out of 2017 full of information. I won't deny that, after a fantastic year in GP2, I already felt ready to race a full season of F1. but it went well like that too".

The 23-year-old from Puglia then underlined his feeling with the Maranello team: “It was wonderful that Ferrari sent me to the factory on Friday, after the FP2 of the GPs, to make comparisons and try different solutions. But even nicer was realizing that a four-time world champion like Sebastian trusted my judgements. I really felt part of the team and valued".

Even in 2018, however, Giovinazzi will be forced to watch Formula 1 as a spectator: “F1 is not football, where you can find an outlet in many teams, here there are only 20 places in the world. But I have always believed in it, since I was little, and the fact of seeing drivers like Vettel and Hamilton achieving success from scratch was a great inspiration. I've always had a passion for Ferrari. And when I signed for Cavallino I couldn't believe it: I'm privileged. I live near Maranello, I'm at the factory almost every day among the red cars, and I feel at home".

Federico Martino