BREAKING: Giovinazzi to replace Ericsson at Sauber in 2019!
Sauber have confirmed Antonio Giovinazzi to be their second driver for 2019 next to Kimi Raikkonen, with the Ferrari junior driver replacing Marcus Ericsson for the Swiss team.
Giovinazzi impressed friend and foe in the 2017 Formula 2 season, only just missing out on the title to Pierre Gasly, who of course moved on to Toro Rosso in the following calendar year.
The 24-year-old Italian was already confirmed to be driving in FP1 for Sauber this Friday, which raised some eyebrows.
With Ferrari's agreement with Sauber being that the prancing horse can stall one junior driver at Sauber at any time, with Charles Leclerc being that this season, Giovinazzi's signing wasn't much of a surprise, given that Kimi Raikkonen already manned the second seat.
CONFIRMED: 2019 Driver Line-up Locked In @Anto_Giovinazzi will be an Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team driver from 2019
— Sauber F1 Team (@SauberF1Team) 25 September 2018
Antonio will line-up alongside #Kimi7 for us next season
Who's excited to see these two together?#WelcomeGio #f1 @F1 pic.twitter.com/dipRGvNyZa
Marcus Ericsson will remain a part of the team, but as a 'Third Driver', Sauber also communicated on their social media.