Official: Alfa Romeo retains its two drivers
Stability predominates at Alfa Romeo: for a third consecutive season, the team retains the same driver duo: Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi.
The day after confirming the continued support of Alfa Romeo, the team announced that it would also keep its current two drivers, which is a half-surprise in itself. Indeed, one might have thought that Antonio Giovinazzi’s days in F1 could be numbered, given that the Ferrari Driver Academy has many candidates aspiring to enter F1. Yet, in [our overview of the 2021 F1 grid](https://www.example.com), we predicted that the Italian would indeed be retained.
The free practice session planned with Mick Schumacher at the Nürburgring could have suggested that it was an evaluation session for the current leader of the F2 championship. However, that is not the case, and it is indeed the Italian who will be alongside Kimi Räikkönen next year. We can still question the strategy adopted by Scuderia and what future they envision for their protégé, who has the merit of being Italian but is no longer so young (26 years old). Their own driver duo will be very young starting next year with Charles Leclerc (23 years old) and Carlos Sainz (26 years old), so the chances of being promoted appear quite slim.
Regarding Kimi Räikkönen, at 41 years old, he will be experiencing his 19th season in the discipline, within the team with which he made his debut in 2001. He will therefore reinforce his position as the most experienced driver in the history of the discipline since he now holds the greatest number of career starts: « Alfa Romeo Racing is more than just a team for me; it’s almost a second family. There are so many people who were already there when I made my debut in Formula 1 in 2001. The unique atmosphere of this team is what gives me the extra motivation to continue, for what will be my 19th season in this sport. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe in the team’s project and what we can achieve together. It’s a team that prefers to work hard rather than talk, which matches my style. »
But the question now is what Ferrari will do with its pool of young drivers. If Mick Schumacher manages to win the title after the Bahrain weekend, it seems automatic that he will be promoted to F1 since the marketing potential of such an arrival is obvious. The only available team now is Haas, which has already announced that it will not keep its two current drivers. Meanwhile, Callum Ilott and Robert Shwartzman might have to settle for another season in F2.
