Antonio Giovinazzi always knew his Hungarian Grand Prix was going to be difficult after both he and Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN team-mate Kimi Räikkönen qualified on the back row of the grid.
After starting on intermediate tyres, the Italian’s race was not helped by switching to the soft compound of Pirelli slick tyre in his pit stop on lap four, which turned out to be a far from ideal compound to use all afternoon long as their performance levels dropped considerably very early on in the stint.
Giovinazzi pitted twice more, utilising the Medium and Hard compounds during the afternoon, but the former Scuderia Ferrari reserve driver could only muster a seventeenth-place result at the chequered flag, ahead of only the two Williams Racing drivers.
“It was always going to be difficult to make up ground after qualifying, but at least we can be satisfied with the pace we had towards the end of the race,” said Giovinazzi. “My start was ok but at my first stop we switched to soft tyres that turned out to be far from the best compound today.
“That cost me a lot of time and by the time we switched to hards, which were a lot better, it was too late to recover many positions.”
Giovinazzi says it will be important for Alfa Romeo to utilise the week off between Hungary and the British Grand Prix in order to improve the C39-Ferrari, particularly with Silverstone beginning another triple header.
“The one-week break before Silverstone will be very important for us to understand a little more about what happened in the last few weeks,” said the Italian. “We must work really hard to improve our car and be in better shape for the next triple header.”
