Giovinazzi hopes ‘luck is turning around’ after first F1 point of 2021 in Monaco

After a run of unfortunate races, Giovinazzi scored his and Alfa Romeo’s first points of the season with tenth in Monte Carlo.

The Italian starred in qualifying as he progressed into Q3, qualifying tenth.

Giovinazzi was overcut by Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in the race, ultimately finishing just 0.4s behind the Frenchman come the chequered flag after being unable to get past.

The 27-year-old has quietly been one of F1’s star performers in 2021, comprehensively outperforming teammate Kimi Raikkonen over one lap especially.

“Really happy, really happy,” Giovinazzi said. “From FP1, the confidence was there. We improved session after session. We arrived in quali with a really great car and in the race again, a good result. Thanks to the team.

Giovinazzi has endured a torrid run of luck in the opening rounds of the season.

In the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, an unscheduled pit stop due to a brake issue cost him a top ten finish, while in Barcelona, a delay at his stop under the Safety Car due to a punctured tyre cost him a shot of points.

“For the team, I think it’s a great motivation,” Giovinazzi added. “Still a lot of races to go but we had a lot of bad luck in the beginning of the season that I hope is now turning around and we can have, since here, a great result.

“I think we showed all weekend, in qualifying, the pace was good and the race as well. So yeah, happy with the result and now looking forward to Baku, which is one of my favourite tracks with great memories, so I'm looking forward [to it].”