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The team boss of Alfa Romeo, Frederic Vasseur says that Antonio Giovinazzi's late crash at the Belgian Grand Prix put his Formula 1 career at risk.
The crash came after a poor start to the season, only managing to score a single point before the summer break at the Austrian Grand Prix.
He looked to be set for a career-best ninth place finish in Spa, that was until he made an error on the penultimate lap and lost the car into the barriers.
"It was a big shock for everybody in the team because it was a good opportunity," Vasseur told Autosport.
"Antonio came back from nowhere, and on one of the last laps he had the crash.
"We had a tough discussion with Antonio, because these kind of things can decide your career. We were thinking about the future.
"We had to sit down the week after and we had to discuss about the situation, and he had a very good reaction."
Vasseur went on to say that the Italian driver had a turning point in Monza, where he finished P9 to score two points in front of his home crowd.
"I think he did a very good job, the pressure was there. In my mind it was very important how Antonio reacted in Monza, that was the real push.
"The issue for Antonio was we were down on performance when he was on top. You can be in front of your teammates but [it's noticed less] if it's for P14 or P15. If it's sixth or seventh, everyone's speaking about you.
"One thing is to show to the team and the other one is to score points because for you, for the paddock, everybody is just focused on results."
Grand Prix of Belgium
G. Zhou
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Replies (6)
Login to replymcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
Mick Schumacher’s poor show in F2, let Gio’s F1 career run on the ventilator.
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
I actually hadn't made that connection. I was certain that Gio would get sacked. I guess I attributed his being retained to Raikkonen annual mediocrity stint which make Gio look pretty good. At any rate, It bothers me to see Gio in F1 while Nico Hulkenberg is out.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
I agree AJ. However, I don't feel it is surprising that the Hulk didn't get a spot at some team when he demanded such high sums of cash. I get why he did, but I feel he shoulda prioritized getting a seat over filling his already full pockets further.
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
@calle I've been hearing that from other fans in comments sections. Did I somehow miss some about Hulkenberg's demands for cash? If that's the case, I absolutely agree with you. He would have done fantastic in either Haas or Alfa Romeo. Especially Alfa, because unlike Toro Rosso, Ferrari really cares about protecting a bug brand like Alfa Romeo. Marchionne set some very ambitious targets for Alfa road car sales. But I digress.
mcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
I too agree that, Hulk's unceremonious exit from F1 has something to do with his inability to compromise over the compensation. A high networth individual like him should have targeted for glory than gold.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
AFAIK, he wanted at least as much cash as he got from Renault (that is, 4,5M USD), which is the same amount as Räikkönen earned, which ties them on P6 of the drivers with highest salary. Alfa can afford Kimi, but I don't think they'd afford another driver with the same demands, let alone Williams or Haas.