Giovinazzi says maiden F1 podium with Alfa Romeo is his ‘main target’

13 different drivers stood on the Formula 1 podium in 2020 and Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi is hoping to become the next new face on the rostrum this year.

Giovinazzi, who has a career best finish of fifth place - scored in a chaotic 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix - heads into his third full F1 campaign with Alfa Romeo looking to move further up the midfield order after a difficult year.

Alfa Romeo’s 2020 campaign proved a struggle, with the Swiss squad rarely featuring in the battle for points after being hampered by Ferrari’s straight-line speed deficit and aerodynamic issues as it took eighth place in the constructors’ championship.

A lack of competitiveness prevented Alfa Romeo from being in a position to fully capitalise on a number of crazy races throughout 2020, with three ninth-place finishes in Austria, Mugello and Imola the best the team could muster.

The 2020 season produced five different winners - including shock maiden victories for Pierre Gasly and Sergio Perez - while three drivers notched their first appearances on the F1 podium.

Giovinazzi is under no illusions that Alfa Romeo will need to make a significant improvement to be in with a chance of such a result, but the Italian remains confident.

“Hopefully we can have a better car just to fight more for the points,” Giovinazzi told Crash.net in an exclusive interview.

“This year [2020] was quite difficult, we would have two points just when it was a chaotic race or something happened at the front and we want to be fighting every race for points.

“My dream of course is to do a podium with Alfa Romeo because it will be a really great thing for me and the team as well.

“This is my main target but of course we need a better car and try to be more close to the points and then we can fight also in some races when something happens, for a podium as well.”

While Giovinazzi could only manage four points across 2020, he came away from the season happy with his personal gains and performances compared to teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who he beat nine to eight in the qualifying head-to-heads.

And with an all-new Ferrari power unit already delivering “very promising” dyno figures, there are reasons to be optimistic that Alfa can enjoy a much better 2021 campaign.

“Last season [2019] we had a stronger car overall, engine-side and everything,” Giovinazzi explained.

“This season we have struggled a little bit more but saying that, I think in terms of performance from my side I’m really happy.

“Also with the team, I think we’ve improved a lot from race one until the end of the season and I’m really happy with this.

“We worked quite hard to improve our car and also to have a better car for next season and this is our target, to bring a better car from race one in 2021.”