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Giovinazzi not thrown off by pressure: It's always been like that

Giovinazzi not thrown off by pressure: "It's always been like that"

22-10-2019 14:22 Last update: 15:27
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Nicolás Quarles van Ufford

Amid his fight to retain his seat at Alfa Romeo Racing for the 2020 season, Antonio Giovinazzi has drawn the comparison between his current situation and his junior racing career, as the Italian explained he had pressure to perform back then as he does currently.

Giovinazzi didn't put his first point on the board until the Austrian Grand Prix, although he did have a previous points finish in Germany which. However, both him and teammate Kimi Raikkonen got disqualified after the race for having illegal mapping on their clutch which would've given them an advantage in the tricky wet conditions at Hockenheim.

Since the summer break, Giovinazzi has been in much better form, scoring a career-best P9 at his and his team's home race in Monza before scoring another point in Singapore.

While the last two races have been without points, the 25-year-old's better form since the summer have put him in a good position to retain his seat at Alfa for 2020 next to the already contracted Raikkonen. Giovinazzi himself compares his uptick in results under pressure to his junior career, when he was also under pressure to perform, although for different reasons.

"It [fighting for my career] was always like that for me and already from karting I didn't have the budget to continue," he told Motorsport.com.

"I had a small go-kart team that supported me for free and then when I went to formula cars my main sponsor was an Indonesian guy and there were many drivers looking for my seat and my position.

"But I played with the pressure and now I'm here, and it's the same thing with F1. I think it's a normal type of pressure here."

The Italian has noticed the drastic change in tone from the media and from pundits since his better races in Italy and Singapore, as he explains it's normal in F1 to be judged on a race-by-race basis, with drivers only being as good as their last race.

"In F1, everything can change really fast from race to race.

"In one race you are a hero, in the next you are s*** and then you are a hero again. It can change really fast but in every category that's the same."

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