F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Giovinazzi says puncture thwarted Dutch GP top 10 finish

Antonio Giovinazzi was unable to capitalize on his good performance in qualifying at Zandvoort, having been forced to undertake an extra stop in last Sunday's race due to a puncture.

The Alfa Romeo driver lined up an impressive seventh on the Dutch Grand Prix grid after achieving his best result in qualifying year-to-date and equaling his career best in Formula 1.

Giovinazzi took a cautious approach to the race's opening lap, nevertheless holding his own into the first corner. But a minor contact with Fernando Alonso on the exit of Turn 4 unsettled the Italian who was overtaken by both Alpine's drivers and McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo.

"We were in turn three and then on the straight and then I had touch with Fernando," said the Alfa driver. "That was it."

©AlfaRomeo

Giovinazzi settled into his race inside the top ten and was on course for a one-stop strategy, but six laps after his swap from the soft to the medium compound, he was forced back into the pitlane.

"We had a puncture on the rear-right, but we don’t know why," he explained.

"I think after that, the race was over because we’d done one stop more than the others and then it was just difficult."

The 27-year-old, whose future with Alfa and in F1 is still up in the air, reckons a top-10 finish was on the cards without the setback which pushed him down the order.

"We were in the points at that moment," he said. "So tricky to say, but up until that moment, we were in the points.

"It had been a really good weekend until then but that bad luck during the race means we didn’t score any points.

"Now we focus fully on Monza, my home race. I’m looking forward to giving a good show to all the Tifosi."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Michael Delaney

Recent Posts

Marko: ‘No chance at all’ for Red Bull in Las Vegas

Helmut Marko believes that Red Bull and Max Verstappen are unlikely to challenge for victory…

2 hours ago

GM revives bid to join F1 with accelerated talks for 2026 entry

Automotive giant General Motors is reportedly back in the game as a potential entrant in…

4 hours ago

Las Vegas GP: Thursday's action in pictures

The opening day of running at the Las Vegas GP was a smooth but chilly…

5 hours ago

Williams' headaches persist into Vegas practice

Williams is continuing to fight uphill battles this weekend in Las Vegas as a knock-on…

6 hours ago

Ferrari's Sainz 'not satisfied with where we are' in Vegas

It was a solid start to the Las Vegas weekend for Ferrari with Carlos Sainz…

7 hours ago

Norris labels McLaren long-run pace ‘shocking’ in chilly Vegas

Lando Norris didn’t hold back in his assessment of McLaren’s performance on the opening day…

8 hours ago