Antonio Giovinazzi can't contest his points shortfall for Alfa Romeo so far this season, but the young Italian insists his performance and pace are now where they should be.
Giovinazzi has contributed just a single point to Alfa's 32-point tally in the Constructors' standings, courtesy of his tenth-place finish in Austria.
That record in the first half of the season obviously doesn't compare well with teammate Kimi Raikkonen's 31-point input. However, it doesn't tell the whole story of Giovinazzi's campaign year to date.
Mechanical issues and bad luck undermined the 25-year-old's efforts on several occasions, encouraging the Alfa charger to look past his race results.
"From Paul Ricard, but also before, Monaco, I was always really close to Kimi, so I think in qualifying I’m there now, the performance is there," he said.
"I was struggling a bit in races but missing two years is not easy, but in races we’re coming better.
"I’m sure the team knows this improvement and we are working really hard together, the team gives me big support to improve and so far we’re doing a good job.
"I think [the] performance is there, speed is there, [but the] points are not there, for many things."
©AlfaRomeo
Giovinazzi, who debuted in F1 with Sauber in 2017 as a substitute for the injured Pascal Wehrlein in Australian and in China, says that sitting on the sidelines for almost two years hasn't helped his cause during his first full season as a Grand Prix driver.
"It’s not easy, already if you miss two years without racing, in the end I did only two races in 2017 and then in 2018 only one race, Le Mans, which is completely different from here," he said.
"Then come back to F1, the best of motorsport, is not really easy, but like I said at the beginning of the season I knew already my target was improving race by race. Take that feeling back, and this is what I’m doing.
"I started struggling a bit more, but in these last few races the pace is there compared to Kimi so I need to be happy with my performance."
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