Does Giovinazzi deserve a Formula 1 seat?
The italian rookie is being outscored by veteran team-mate Kimi Raikkonen by 1 to 31 championship points. To be fair though, standings don't tell the whole story.
Looking at the raw head-to-head comparisons, Alfa Romeo is among the teams with the biggest gap between the drivers.
Kimi Raikkonen, eighth in the championship, has scored 31 points against the single one put in the bag by Antonio Giovinazzi, 18th overall. The Finn moreover has outscored the italian rookie in 11 of the 12 races so far disputed.
But, if we take a look to the qualifying sessions, we can see how fast Giovinazzi actually is: Raikkonen still wins the comparison having qualifyied ahead of the team mate in eight occasions, ending up behind Antonio four times. But on the single lap there's almost always a very tight margin between the two of them. What's the reason behind this difference on the Sunday delivering?
Giovinazzi has being quite unlucky so far in 2019, with tecnichal issues beaching him in the graveltrap at Silverstone and a penalty that dropped him from seventh to the back of the grid in Baku. Nevertheless, to say everything is down to luck is just false.
Kimi most of the times has had way more speed. In stating that we have to keep in mind that the Finn has been racing in Formula 1 for almost twenty years, while the #99 has debuted this year.
Moreover, as Antonio himself told us when we interviewed him, his biggest problem is represented by the two years he has spent away from the track. Driving in the Ferrari's simulator and occasionally taking part at some tests gave him the chance to improve his speed on flying laps and on long runs in clean air.The price he had to pay, on the other end, is a lack of experience about race situations which cost a lot on an average Sunday.
https://www.motorlat.com/notas/f1/12178/german-gp-giovinazzi-i-grew-up-a-lot-thanks-to-kimi
Something that has to be brought on the table is also Giovinazzi's difficulty on adapting to a new car. For instance, in GP2 (nowdays known as Formula 2) in 2016 he failed to score a single point in the first four races of the year, still finding himself to fight for the championship against Pierre Gasly until the very last event of the season. Throughout that year Antonio's improvements have been massive and outstanding and that's what he needs again this year: a solid second half of the season. Because, even if there are no rumors about the Italian losing his drive, he needs to deliver not just for the team in such a tight midfield pack, but also for himself. Not just to be 100% safe about his future, but mostly to gain some more self-confidence, which is a key factor to make every driver's skill work at its best. And, after half a year spent trying to learn the car, to show the best he has is exactly what he will need from nowon to prove he deserves that seat, in a rookie year that so far hasn't been too impressive.
