Antonio Giovinazzi has stressed that his performance level is improving, along with his confidence, after describing stepping up to F1 following a two-year absence as “not easy”.
Giovinazzi finished runner-up in the GP2 Series in 2016 but did not race full-time across 2017/18, occupying a reserve role at Ferrari that led to test runs, along with outings for Sauber and Haas.
Giovinazzi’s only race experience during that two-year spell came at the 2017 Australian and Chinese Grands Prix, when he filled in for the unfit Pascal Wehrlein at Sauber, and at Le Mans last year, when he competed for AF Corse in GTE Pro.
For 2019 Giovinazzi was handed a full-time race seat with the rebranded Alfa Romeo team, in place of Ferrari-bound Charles Leclerc, and linked up with 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen.
But while Raikkonen has scored 31 points at eight grands prix, Giovinazzi has just one point to his name, earned when he rounded out the top 10 in Austria.
He also finished eighth in Germany prior to the post-race time penalty issued to both Alfa Romeo drivers on account of incorrect torque clutch settings.
“It’s not easy, already if you miss two years without racing, in the end I did only two races in 2017 and then in 2018 only one race, Le Mans, which is completely different from here,” said Giovinazzi.
“Then come back to F1, the best of motorsport, is not really easy, but like I said at the beginning of the season I knew already my target was improving race by race, take that feeling back, and this is what I’m doing.
“I started struggling a bit more, but in these last few races the pace is there compared to Kimi so I need to be happy with my performance.”
Giovinazzi pre-season regarded one-lap pace gains as vital but now believes he is “there now” and that race improvements should be given more focus.
Giovinazzi out-qualified Raikkonen just once across the opening six races but since then it has been 3-3 across one-lap performance.
“From Paul Ricard, but also before, Monaco, I was always really close to Kimi, so I think in qualifying I’m there now, the performance is there,” he said.
“I was struggling a bit in races but missing two years is not easy, but in races we’re coming better.
“I’m sure the team knows this improvement and we are working really hard together, the team gives me big support to improve support and so far we’re doing a good job.
“I think [the] performance is there, speed is there, [but the] points are not there, for many things.”
