Giovinazzi: "It's important to learn from my mistakes"

Antonio Giovinazzi says that it is important for him to learn from his past mistakes. The Italian made his debut in Formula 1 back in Australia, replacing Pascal Wehrlein who was ruled out due to injury. The 2016 GP2 runner-up stuck in an impressive debut and received praise from many drivers.

However, China proved to be a much more difficult affair. Giovinazzi crashed in both qualifying and the race, bringing an end to a tough weekend. Most recently, he got an outing for Haas during the FP1 session at Silverstone and will have a number of more later this year.

"My rules were to be third driver for Ferrari and then in Australia I had the opportunity on Saturday to jump in the car straightaway," Giovinazzi said. "I didn't know the track and didn't know quite well the car. But it was really good debut I think, especially in quali but also in the race. 

"And then in China I was completely opposite. It was a really bad weekend for me. But then for a rookie and for a young driver, it's important to learn from mistakes, so I think I learned from what I got from Australia but also what I got from China. 

"What's important is to learn, and to learn better is to come back in the car, do laps and take back the confidence because if the last time you were in the car you crashed, you are not in the car any more, it's really hard.  To come back and take confidence back is really important."

The 23-year-old has been linked with a race seat in 2018, eyeing up a drive with Haas. However, he understands how difficult it is for a newcomer to come in and impress: "To go in F1 is really hard. There are not many seats," Giovinazzi said. 

"There are only 20 seats in the world, so it's really hard. It's not like football.  But it's just my first season in Ferrari. They are really good. I trust them, so they know what they can do for me. Now it's just time to focus on what they give me this year with seven FP1s, and then we'll see what happens next year.  Anything can happen, so I hope I can find a seat for next year."

Fergal Walsh