David Coulthard is disappointed with Alfa Romeo for not giving Antonio Giovinazzi the “credit he’s due.”
There are five races left for this season to end, and Alfa Romeo remains the only team which hasn’t announced its lineup for next season. Valtteri Bottas has already been announced, but nobody knows who will partner him.
Current driver Giovinazzi has been tipped by many to lose his seat. This is despite his recent string of impressive performances, especially in qualifying. Accordingly,Coulthard is disappointed with Alfa Romeo for not giving Antonio Giovinazzi the “credit he’s due.”
“Antonio is a quality driver,” Coulthard told La Gazzetta dello Sport, as quoted by f1i.com.
“I think he’s got speed, intelligence, he’s you know a good-looking boy, which is always a good thing for the partners and sponsors. Of course, it’s always going to be tricky when you’re in a team like Alfa where you’re aligned to the main Ferrari team.
“But the Ferrari team has two young drivers, so there’s no clear route for him to go there. And because you’re aligned to Ferrari that’s probably a limited opportunity to go to other teams.
“So at the moment, you know, I hope he’s able to secure his future with Alfa and then I’m sure what he can do alongside Bottas. I think that’s the best possibility for him.”
Underappreciated
Coulthard also compared Giovinazzi to retiring legend Kimi Raikkonen, and said that the Italian beating the Finn consistently deserves more praise.
“You know, I think Kimi is a fast racing driver,” he continued.
“People maybe don’t give Antonio the credit he’s due to be a little bit in front of Kimi, which is the average this year. I think he’s been couple of tenths ahead of Kimi in qualifying.
“You know, that is not something I managed very often in my time when I was alongside Kimi and, of course, time moves on. But I hope that he’s able to continue there and then see what the future opens up,” he concluded.
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