Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi was left exhilarated after the Eifel Grand Prix, as he bagged his second points finish of the season at the Nurburgring.
Amid a difficult year for Alfa Romeo, which has been struggling towards the back of the F1 field, the Italian took the chequered flag in 10th place.
Giovinazzi pitted before a Safety Car was deployed following an on-track stoppage for Lando Norris, and after team-mate Kimi Raikkonen came in for fresh tyres, Giovinazzi was promoted to inside the top 10.
However, the 26-year-old is confident that he could have progressed further into the points if not for the deployment of the late Safety Car.
“For sure, [I’m] really happy,” Giovinazzi said. “After qualifying I said the target was scoring points.
“Again, it was a great first lap, gaining positions there, and it was a good race until the Safety Car compromised our result a bit.
“We could have achieved P8 without that but I’m really happy with this and I’ll take it, looking forward to the next one.”
Giovinazzi’s team-mate Kimi Raikkonen’s race was compromised by a 10-second time penalty after he was involved in a collision with Williams’ George Russell.
Speaking about the incident, Raikkonen said: “We touched each other and that’s it. We were all together, I locked the rears a little bit and got sideways.
“It wasn’t the greatest weekend, but after Saturday we knew we’d have a difficult job on our hands. The start of the race was ok, but then I had to avoid some cars ahead of me and I lost a lot of places.
“We could have been a bit ahead but the Safety Car cost us a few position and the end result wasn’t great.
“It was a frustrating weekend, but we have to leave it behind us and try again next time.”
