"Proud" Antonio Giovinazzi on emotional Le Mans win with Ferrari: "Years of sacrifice paid off"

Le Mans, Ferrari triumph in the Centennial edition
In the uncontrollable red Sunday of Ferrari, there is glory for Antonio Giovinazzi as well. A driver who doesn’t talk about revenge, despite having every right to feel that way considering how he was treated in 2021 by Formula 1 and his former team, which left him without even giving him a suitable placement. His adventure in Formula E, perhaps a fallback option, was not satisfying for the Italian driver, and his career was truly at risk of reaching a dead end. However, after years of sacrifices, here comes the reward for Antonio Giovinazzi and with very high interest: the triumph at the Centennial Le Mans, achieved together with Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado, in the year of Ferrari’s return to the top class.

Antonio Giovinazzi’s words
“It was tough, with many emotions and difficult conditions. We should be proud. This team wasn’t here last year, and now we have won Le Mans. The key was not making mistakes in mixed conditions and staying calm. If it’s a revenge for me after my Formula 1 adventure? No, I hadn’t been on the podium and hadn’t won since 2016. Doing it here was exciting,” commented the former Alfa Romeo driver in an interview for Carlo Platella.

“Car #50? It’s a shame, it could have been a one-two finish. It was as fast as us. Now we have Monza, we’re racing in front of our fans, let’s try to make them proud with a one-two finish. We were fast since the first qualifying session, but we lacked experience and race and tire management. The fact that Le Mans isn’t very abrasive helped us here, but managing six hours is one thing, managing 24 hours is another. We were perfect. I still haven’t fully realized what we have achieved.” – the former Alfa Romeo man explained.

“I cried”
“I don’t hide it, I cried. There are so many sacrifices behind many disappointing years. But in the end, you just have to believe in it. I have always believed in my talent and my team. We put the car on the track in July 2022, and we just have to be proud. We have a lot of work to do, but we have laid an important foundation. Did we expect it? I always said it: we always have to believe. We knew we had a fast car; we saw it from the first qualifying session of the year.” – Antonio Giovinazzi pointed out.

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“Reliability was our biggest concern, especially because 24 hours are incredibly long. But reliability and luck were on our side. We didn’t make any mistakes, neither as drivers nor as a team, and we won. The most difficult moment was the first stint. I was on slick tires and suddenly encountered heavy rain in the last sector. It was really difficult to manage the situation. I knew that at that moment it was important not to make mistakes and stay calm, but it was easy to make a mistake. With slick tires, it was challenging to keep the car on track. Alessandro had the same situation, and we did a great job managing everything. I’m happy with what we have achieved.” – the Ferrari man concluded.