Giovinazzi regains confidence: 'He's making progress in every area'

Antonio Giovinazzi has been given another year to prove himself in Formula 1. At Alfa Romeo, he defeated Kimi Raikkonen in the qualifying duel, but his team boss says he still needs to make a move in the race.

Giovinazzi was given the first real chance to show himself in Formula One in 2019, after his official debut in 2017 ultimately ended in disaster in China. In 2020, Giovinazzi was trusted again and despite not making a huge impression, Frederic Vasseur preferred him over Mick Schumacher, Callum Ilott and Robert Shwartzman.

''Driving more consistent races will have to be the next step for Giovinazzi. But he is actually making progress in every area already. He will also be allowed to take a bit more of the weight of the team on his shoulders, to make a bit more decisions. But he is working on that and we see him improving race by race. I am very confident for next year," the Alfa Romeo team principal told Motorsport.com.

''If you look at the first year, he scored a third of Kimi's points, and he was only six times ahead of him in qualifying. Now they can compete with each other, they have the same number of points and finished almost the same in qualifying,'' Vasseur concluded of his Italian pupil.