Antonio Giovinazzi says the fact he carried out a “good job” during two days of testing with Ferrari and Sauber is no guarantee that he will secure a seat on the 2019 Formula 1 grid.
Giovinazzi has been chasing a full-time seat in the sport since he finished runner-up to Pierre Gasly in the 2016 GP2 season, a result that earned him a strong affiliation with Ferrari.
Giovinazzi participated in the first two Grands Prix of 2017 as a replacement for the unfit Pascal Wehrlein at Sauber, but was unable to secure a full-time 2018 ride.
The Italian has carried out testing for Ferrari, Haas and Sauber, and doubled up duties at the Hungaroring this week, leading Tuesday’s running in the SF71H before switching to the C37 for Wednesday.
It comes after Giovinazzi’s back-to-back FP1 runs with Sauber in Germany and Hungary, with four more sessions planned across the remainder of the season.
Giovinazzi is understood to be on Sauber’s shortlist for a 2019 seat, while his chances would ostensibly be boosted should Charles Leclerc graduate to Ferrari.
“I’m really happy to be honest,” said Giovinazzi of his two days in the different cars.
“[Tuesday] was a good day with Ferrari, [Wednesday] also with Sauber, but because I did a good job is not for sure I will have the seat next year, everything will change.
“What I will do is just do my best and will see if it will happen or not. You cannot imagine [how much I want a 2019 seat], I really want to go back.
“For now I need just to do what I’m doing, drive a car, I think was two positive days for myself. Now we’ll see. I still have 4 FP1s with Sauber, at the end of the year I hope I can have the seat I want.”
Giovinazzi also praised the gains made by Sauber since May’s Barcelona in-season test.
“I think the team is doing a fantastic job,” he said.
“In FP1 it’s really difficult to see the difference, but compared to rookie test I did in Barcelona, the car is really a big step in front. [There’s more] downforce overall. Just better everywhere, braking stability, just everywhere.”
