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Giovinazzi: In the beginning of the season I was struggling with Raikkonnen

Giovinazzi: "In the beginning of the season I was struggling with Raikkonnen"

09-04-2020 14:24 Last update: 14:32

GPblog.com

Antonio Giovinazzi drove a complicated season last season. In his first full year as an F1 driver he had to compete against veteran Kimi Raikkonen. At the start the Italian clearly had to give way to the Finn, but as the season progressed Giovinazzi managed to take on the team battle at Alfa Romeo Racing. At Formula1.com he opened his book about the battles with Raikkonen.

"At the beginning of the season, I was really struggling. He was already at the top of his career and he was really fast in every race. If you look at the results it wasn't really easy to compare", Giovinazzi said. His first qualifying in the top ten came in Austria, followed by a strong second half of the season. His best result was in Brazil, where he drove to fifth place.

Thinking differently

"I tried to think differently. I had to learn from him and focus on him. I think that's the best I could do, because I had trouble with it at first. Especially at racing speed and in different racing situations". The Italian had already driven two races in 2017 for the then Sauber, because Pascal Wehrlein was injured in the winter. In 2019 the driver was allowed to drive a whole season for the first time.

"I think I have made great progress in the second half of the season. I have to thank Kimi for that, because I learned a lot from him. It is nice that I can race with him next season as well, because we have a good friendship. We respect each other and I think that's the most important thing for a teammate and the team. Of course it's also nice to have a world champion as a teammate, especially if you drive in front of him".