Giovinazzi must learn from Raikkonen - Liuzzi

Antonio Giovinazzi must be meticulous as he represents Italy in formula one.

That is the view of Vitantonio Liuzzi, who along with Jarno Trulli was the last Italian driver in F1 way back in 2011.

Now, with Ferrari’s backing, Giovinazzi has been signed to race full-time for Alfa Romeo-sponsored Sauber from 2019.

Liuzzi says it’s a big deal.

"In the era of the so-called ’pay drivers’, Italy really started to struggle," the former F1 driver, now 38, told Corriere dello Sport.

"Now we don’t just have the Ferrari name to cheer for so I’m delighted for Antonio," Liuzzi said.

"He will need to try to extract as much information as possible from Kimi Raikkonen, which will not be easy from a driver as cold as the Finn," he added.

"But in terms of results, comparing with such a good driver represents a great opportunity and Giovinazzi must not be presumptuous.

"In formula one it’s easy to get burned, as he almost risked a year ago," said Liuzzi, referring to Giovinazzi’s crashes during one-off appearances in 2017.