Giovinazzi participated in pre-season testing for the season with Sauber. In a similar fashion to his DTM debut two years prior, he substituted for the injured Pascal Wehrlein at the . Wehrlein did not feel fit enough for a complete race distance due to his training deficit as a result of a crash at the 2017 Race of Champions. Giovinazzi finished 12th on his debut. His debut meant he was the first Italian driver to start a Formula One race since Jarno Trulli and Vitantonio Liuzzi at the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix. Sauber announced that Giovinazzi would again replace Wehrlein for the , where he crashed out during both qualifying and the race.