Alfa Romeo's Antonio Giovinazzi delivered a strong weekend to secure his and the team's first point of the season as the Hinwil-based team hope it'll be a turning point after "bad luck" in the opening four races.
25/05/21
Antonio Giovianzzi finally delivered for Alfa Romeo after his best weekend so far this season with the Italian progressing through to Q3 and executing a very well-crafted race to score his and the team's first point with tenth place.
BREAKTHROUGH: Alfa Romeo and Giovinazzi finally delivered on their Pre-Season pace to score their point of the season
At a race circuit where the driver makes all the difference, Giovinazzi felt he was comfortable from the get go. He said: “Yes really happy, from FP1, confidence was there."
Alfa Romeo's last point in the sport came at last years Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola some nine races ago before last Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix where Giovinazzi crossed the line to pick up a solitary point.
Giovinazzi said: “It’s really good to finally be back in the points. The pace throughout the weekend was really good and this top 10 finish is the reward for it."
Qualifying in tenth, which marked the team's first appearance in the top-ten shoot-out, Giovinazzi was briefly overtaken by Alpine's Esteban Ocon into the first corner but the Italian revealed that he had done his homework before the race weekend.
Getting a good run through Casino Square, Giovinazzi had remembered a move former F1 driver Romain Grosjean made a few years back, and managed to sneak round the outside of Ocon, which turned to the inside, for the Hairpin at the Grand Hotel.
It wasn't until the round of pit-stops where Giovinazzi lost out to Ocon and with both losing out to Aston Martin's Lance Stroll who'd ran longer in the race and was able to jump both drivers.
The order stayed as it was and Giovinazzi closely followed Ocon home to take the final point in 10th.
Despite this, Giovinazzi was still very happy. He said: “Happy with the first point of the year [and] for the team. I think it is great motivation."
CONTRASTING FORTUNES: Charles Leclerc (left) and Giovinazzi (right) speak pre-race as the Ferrari affilated drivers have very different Monaco races
This is a very well deserved point for the team who have not been able to crack into the top ten despite at least one car finishing either 11th or 12th in the four previous races this season.
What more for Alfa Romeo is that it's the first time since 2015 that the Hinwil squad were last in the points in the Principality.
The team have made a step forward this year having a poor 2020 mainly due to the lack of performance from the Ferrari power unit and are on the cusp of the very tight mid-field battle which consists of mainly five teams.
With Alfa Romeo scoring their first point of the season, it just leaves Williams and Haas as the only teams yet to finish inside the top ten.
The Italian now looks forward to one of his 'favourite' tracks, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on the 6th of June, where he has performed well over the years.
He said: "I’m looking forward to Baku now, another street race on a track I love. If we produce another great weekend like this, we will have all it takes to bring home another good result.”