Proud to be the first Italian in Formula 1 in eight years, Antonio Giovinazzi believes his two years spent on the sidelines with Ferrari have helped prepare him for the task at hand.

Giovinazzi will line up with the Alfa Romeo team this season, partnering 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen.

It is a much-awaited promotion for the Italian who had a brief foray into Formula 1 in 2017 when he replaced the injured Pascal Wehrlein at Sauber for Australia and China.

While the former resulted in a P12 finish, the latter was an error-strewn weekend and a huge blot on his copybook.