Giovinazzi happy with message from Verstappen: "It shows they support you"

Antonio Giovinazzi will be replaced at Alfa Romeo next year by Guanyu Zhou. This means that the Italian is saying goodbye to Formula 1. He received messages from other drivers including Max Verstappen. Such messages matter, according to the Italian.

Giovinazzi doesn't seem to have fully accepted his farewell yet. The driver feels it is unfair that the big money from Zhou's Chinese sponsors outweighs his performance and experience for the team. Giovinazzi complains again to Italian Radio 2: "Despite the fact that qualifying didn't always turn out well, and I haven't scored many points, I think this has been my best season."

Especially the fact that Giovinazzi was often able to compete against former world champion Kimi Raikkonen speaks volumes, according to the driver himself: "I was often faster than Kimi during qualifying and races this year. He remains a champion so that says a lot for me." The champion also has to leave Alfa Romeo next year and he too will say goodbye to F1. Only the Finn looks back on a much longer and more successful F1 career.

Giovinazzi was not alone after the announcement of his farewell. His F1 colleagues stood by him. The contenders for the 2021 title both spoke out. Giovinazzi: "Verstappen and [Lewis] Hamilton, for example, sent me nice messages to support me. I've known Max for a long time because I raced against him in Formula 3. Those are the messages that matter to me, because it shows that people within the sport support you."