Raikkonen ’motivated’ for Sauber - Giovinazzi

Antonio Giovinazzi thinks his 2019 teammate Kimi Raikkonen will help him at Sauber next year.

2019 will be the Ferrari-backed Italian’s first full season in F1, following two one-off starts for the Swiss team last year.

Giovinazzi, 24, will be paired with Ferrari refugee and 2007 world champion Raikkonen.

"Charles (Leclerc) said he talked to Vettel from time to time and Kimi a little," Giovinazzi said at an awards night hosted by Italian magazine Autosprint.

"But on the day of testing I talked with him (Raikkonen) a lot, like never before," he revealed.

"He is very motivated by this new experience, so as a world champion who is winning again he will help me to develop and will not deny me any help," Giovinazzi told Sky Italia.

Raikkonen, now 39, started his career at Sauber as a 21-year-old, and said the Swiss outfit has "changed a lot".

"Many people are different but they have what they need," he said.

"They have all the tools, there is a good wind tunnel and all that is needed to build a good car," Raikkonen told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"We also have the Ferrari engine, so we know what we can do. It was important that I got to drive the car immediately and see if there were things to fix, but I must say that everything went well," he revealed.