Twitter: @alfaromeoaracing
Engine: Ferrari
Races: 465
Wins: 1
Titles: 0
Last year: 8th
Alfa Romeo returned to F1 last year as the title sponsor of Sauber, and this season the team has fully adopted the Italian brand. But while the management is the same, the line-up is not; Kimi Raikkonen signed a surprise two-year deal that will take him into his forties, while Ferrari junior Antonio Giovinazzi earns a full-time race seat after two cameo appearances in 2017. Like Charles Leclerc before him, Giovinazzi will have to prove his worth by getting the maximum from a midfield car. Impressing early will be key.
Our verdict: Testing suggested Alfa has slipped back over winter; we won’t know until a few races in. Any improvement on eighth looks like a tall order.
Drivers
7 – Kimi Raikkonen
Races: 294
Wins: 21
Titles: 1
Last year: 3rd
Age: 39
Twitter: N/A
Did you know? The Finn’s win at last year’s US GP came 5,691 days after his victory in Australia in 2013.
99 – Antonio Giovinazzi
Races: 2
Wins: 0
Titles: 0
Last year: N/A
Age: 25
Twitter: @Anto_Giovinazzi
Did you know? Giovinazzi is the only Italian to race in F1 since Jarno Trulli and Vitantonio Liuzzi left in 2011
