Frédéric Vasseur hopes the performance and the points scored by Antonio Giovinazzi in last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix gives the Italian confidence and motivation across the final seven races of 2019.
Alfa Romeo Racing went into the weekend with the aim of scoring good points with both drivers but having messed up Kimi Räikkönen’s race early on, all hopes were pinned on Giovinazzi to deliver, and he did just that to finish a career-best ninth and score two points.
Vasseur said the result at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza should go a long way towards aiding Giovinazzi’s confidence, and as such it should benefit the team in the long run in the Constructors’ Championship as they look to improve on their current eighth-place standing.
“Scoring two points in our home race is a good way to say thank you for all the support we received this weekend,” said Vasseur. “Antonio drove a really good race in front of his home fans and had to keep a cool head under pressure to bring home P9, repaying the faith everyone in the team has put in him.
“Hopefully, this result can provide further motivation for him to finish the season strongly and help the team in the standings.”
Vasseur admitted Alfa Romeo had aims of bringing Räikkönen back into points contention despite the Finn starting from the pit lane, but a stop and go penalty for starting on the incorrect tyres put paid to their chances and he was unable to better fifteenth at the chequered flag.
“Sadly, Kimi didn’t have as memorable a race,” said Vasseur. “Coming back from a pitlane start was always going to be a tough task, but as we put the wrong tyres onto his car his hopes of points were put to an end.”
