Giovinazzi: Motivation at Alfa Romeo higher than in 2017

Antonio Giovinazzi says the motivation that inhabits today's Alfa Romeo Racing/Sauber team is far greater than it was when he made his F1 debut with the Swiss outfit in 2017.

While he is perceived as a rookie this year, Giovinazzi raced for Sauber in the opening two Grands Prix of the 2017 season, when he replaced an injured Pascal Wehrlein.

Since then however, the Hinwil-based squad has gone through a deep transformation as the result of shareholder and management changes, and a strengthening of its ties with Ferrari through its partnership with Alfa Romeo.

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Sauber enjoyed massive progress in 2018 and ambitions to take another step forward this season as it stakes its claim to Formula 1's mid-field.

"The team is the same, the people are the same as 2017, so now the only change is the name," said Giovinazzi.

"But so far, I have seen that there is more motivation within the team than in 2017. Already from last year, they got a good result which was good for the team.

"They have new drivers, Kimi is a world champion, so the motivation is really high. It's good to see from my view."

Powered by the same-spec engine as Ferrari's SF90, Alfa Romeo's 2019 C38 incorporates a few novel aerodynamic solutions that have delivered a promising potential, as Giovinazzi demonstrated on Tuesday by topping the timesheet in the day's opening session.

"We have concluded another constructive day and started the second week of testing on a positive note," he said.

"With another 99 laps down, I feel good in the car and am satisfied with the progress we are making.

"We continue to learn about our strengths as a team with every day spent on track and are motivated to continue on this path. I look forward to being back in the car on Thursday."

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