Antonio Giovinazzi as Alfa Romeo exits: Money rules in F1

After it was confirmed he would not continue with Alfa Romeo next season, Antonio Giovinazzi said Formula One can be “ruthless” as decisions are dictated by money over talent.

Giovinazzi will be replaced by the well-funded Guanyu Zhou, who will be China’s first Formula 1 driver.

Giovinazzi burst into the fray after finishing second in Formula 3 in 2015 and in Formula 2 the following season. However, he also has strong backing from Ferrari to thank for driving him to F1.

The Italian driver made an impression standing next to Pascal Wehrlein in 2017 at Sauber and continued as a test driver when it was rebranded as Alfa Romeo in 2018.

He was then given a full-time drive in 2019 alongside Kimi Raikkonen, although the less competitive cars Alfa Romeo delivered during his three seasons made it difficult for him to make a regular impression. in the top 10.

In a post where he sat in his toy Ferrari as a child, Giovinazzi left little doubt about what factors he blamed for Tuesday’s loss of seat.

“F1 is emotion, talent, cars, risk, speed,” he wrote on Twitter. “But when money rules it can be cruel.

“I believe in the surprise of an unexpected result, in victories big or small achieved through one’s commitment. If this is my first photo on the F1 track, the last one. still have to be photographed.”

With Valtteri Bottas confirmed as Raikkonen’s teammate, Giovinazzi’s future at Alfa Romeo has been in doubt for some time. Zhou has been negotiating with the team for several months, while American driver Colton Herta has been briefly considered while Michael Andretti is in talks to buy Sauber. Those talks are over.

Giovinazzi has criticized the team in recent races, suggesting it intentionally damaged his strategy at the Mexican Grand Prix as he felt the timing of the pit stop had caused him to finish in the top 10.